WARNING: This chapter will cause some "What the ******** in the plot. I take full responsibility for that. I don't know what I was on when I wrote it and I'm too lazy to edit it.
IDONOTOWNIDONOTOWNIDONOTOWN
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Chapter 9
Chapter 9
"And that's what happened." said Kyoh. He was on the vision phone with an older male with medium length silver hair. "So Ami's in the hospital right now?" the male asked. Kyoh nodded. "Yeah, but they now took her out of critical condition about three days ago." The male got up. "I'll be there soon. I have to see her." The male soon hung up.
Meanwhile, Ami was still sleeping in her cot. She was breathing deeply, but normally. "So how is she?" asked Hyuga. He made his way to Ami. It was a bit dishearting to see Ami attached to various machines. But at least she was alive. Maya turned and smiled warmly at him. "She's doing fine, all things considered. The nano-machines are deactivated and have been removed. But the virus is spreading more quickly than what I've examined." She closed her eyes. "The odd thing is that it's under some control." Hyuga took a seat beside Ami. Her hand twitched a bit. "She normally responds a bit when you come in. I think she likes you a lot." A small smile came upon his face. "I know." Maya went to the machines and read them. "Her vitals are good though." Ethan came into the room. "Hey, Ami's doing better?" "All things considered." Hyuga replied. Ethan placed a small bouquet of flowers by the empty desk. "Dallgun hasn't told anyone what's going to happen after she is cleared. I hope nothing bad happens." he said. There was some more silence. "Alright you two." Maya said, "I need to examine Ami and I can't do it with you in here." Hyuga got up and dusted himself off. "I'll be back later."
It was a few minutes after Ethan and Hyuga left the room. Ami slowly opened her eyes. "Well it's nice to see you awake." Maya said. Ami blinked, then looked at her. "I've been awake here and there."Ami admitted, "But if I woke up in front of them, they would never leave me alone." A small smile came upon her face. Maya smiled back. "Well then, lets get started."
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A few days later, Ami was sleeping in the cot. Maya was finishing up the examination on her. "The report was right." she said to herself. 'Any more time and they could have used her body to advance the virus.' The door opened. A male with shoulder-length silver hair walked through the door. His eyes were covered by a very dark pair of glasses. "Visiting hours are over for today." He went over to Ami's side. "I apologize for not coming any sooner. It's hard to get a shuttle from where we live to the Colony." Maya looked up. "Who are you?" The male chuckled to himself. "I'm sorry. My name is Shion and I am Ami's father." Shion took a seat. "Even though I came to see Ami, I mainly came to see you Miss Maya Shidow." Maya took a step back. "How do you know me?" "Everyone knows about you. A leading researcher in developing a vaccine for the Seed-virus. Unfortunately, it won't be done for quite some time later." Shion stood up. "To be frank, I'm from an alternate future. It sounds impossible. But the world I lived in, there are far more technological advances than what the Gurhal system has now." Maya was stunned. "If I were to believe your story, why won't the vaccine be done?" "Because the virus within you will turn you into a Seed-form in about twenty to thirty years."
"That's impossible." Shion shook his head. "It isn't, you know it. One of your pupils will continue your work and finally construct it, but by then it would be hopeless. This is why I am here." Shion walked over to a window. "I was altered from conception to have the vaccine in my DNA. If I can speak with you now, Gurhal can be saved sooner." "But wouldn't you cease to exist?" she asked. He shook his head. "Like I said, alternate futures. I've already established my place in this timeline by being the father to Ami." He took off his glasses. They were a green-blue and glowing with narrow slits for pupils. He put a small glass container on the desk, right by the flowers. "This is the starting base of the cure. With some work, it will be completed sooner." Then he looked at the flowers. "These are from her boyfriend?" "No," she said, "a friend. I don't think that has one. Though she is rather close to-" Then she became silent. "It's alright." Shion said, "Ami will tell me when it's time." He patted her head. "Make sure she is safe. I can now finish my life as just a dad now." Then he walked out.
As Shion walked down the hallway, he put his glasses back on. He passed by Hyuga on the way out. The two shared a brief glance before walking out again. "Hey, Shion!" called Kyoh. He stopped. "Ah, Kyoh it's been a long while." Hyuga stopped at Kyoh's familiarity with Shion. "It has. Why didn't you tell me that you had arrived at the Colony." Shion put him in a light headlock. "Since when did I have to answer to you? I'm still your elder, Guardian or not." Hyuga asked, "A friend?" Kyoh shook his head. "No, Ami's dad." Hyuga couldn't believe it. For one, Shion looked a bit young for a father. "It's nice to meet you." he said. Shion shook his hand. "Ah, so you're him. Ami's told me about her partners here. It's nice to finally meet you." Kyoh asked, "How long you're staying?" "Until the morning. I mainly came to see how Ami was holding up. And she has you to help her out." Kyoh nudged Hyuga. "Not as much anymore, he's been there for her when I was out on missions." Shion laughed as Hyuga's face grew red. "I see. Anyway, Kyoh your parents wanted me to send you their regards." He nodded. "I'll talk to them soon." Shion discreetly studied Hyuga. "I should get going. I promised her mother that I would tell her about Ami's condition." Hyuga suggested, "At least stay until she's awake?" Shion shook his head. "That I cannot do. I know that she will pull through. And her condition is a lot more than you guys know." With the cyrptic message, Shion left.
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Ami had woken up again to see Maya working at a table. "Good morning Ami." she said. She just nodded in response. "I think I can stay fully awake now." Ami said. Ami noticed that Maya was inserting something into a petri dish. "Vaccine?" Maya nodded. "I made a discovery on the foundation for a cure." Emelia came in soon afterwards. "So Ami is awake now?" She walked over to her and gave her a hug. "We thought that you were going to stay in a coma." Ami shook her head. "I'm okay now. Don't tell any of the guys that I'm awake yet. They are just going to smother me with their attention. Kyoh and Emil will scold me on not being honest, Ethan is just gonna smother me period. And Hyuga...." Ami fell silent at his name. "Anyway," she said, "Maya made a base for the cure." Emelia nodded. "Yep, a week ago. It's still in it's earliest stages." Ami listened as Emelia took the time to explain what was going on during Ami's unconscious state. She closed her eyes. Maya stood up. "I'll need to get back to the lab. She can finally be put into the care of the other doctors." "Wait." said Ami. Her face became red at what she was going to ask Maya. "Do you-do you mind that I come with you?"
"But why? You're needed here." she calmly answered. "I don't think I'm going to be a Guardian after this. I rather I leave now before then. At least this way, I can still help. I'm not a researcher or anything. But test your vaccines on me." Emelia placed her hands firmly on Ami's shoulders. "Do you realize what you are asking? You want to be a lab rat?" Ami nodded. "Yeah, I can faintly remember everyone telling me that the virus responded differently within my body. If it's true..." Ami took a moment to think. "Then I would want to help in that way." Emelia loosened her grip. "What about the others?" Ami smiled, "You say as if I'm going to die or something. If I survived this long, this will be nothing. And, it doesn't matter. If it means saving everyone, I'll gladly put my life on the line. That is what being a Guardian is about." Maya made her way out of the door. "She does bring up some good points. I'll talk with Dallgun to postpone your hearing for a while longer. Or at least, try and use this to your advantage." Ami smiled. "Thank you Maya." She turned and smiled. "You're welcome. Oh and I know the other reason why." Her face became red. "Eh heh heh." she laughed nervousily.
As Maya walked to the President's office, Hyuga was on his way to Ami's room. "Oh, hello Maya." he greeted her. "Good morning to you as well. You've been up early around this time for a while." "Well," he said, "I just want to make sure I'm near Ami. Just in case." "Oh." She grabbed him lightly on the arm. "Ami is sleeping peacefully right now. Best not to disturb her." she lied. Having Hyuga in there just might make Ami regret her choice of helping her. She needed to lie, for the time being. She understood that Ami didn't really want to be near him while she was conscious. Why? Maya didn't know. She and Ami weren't close for that. But she would tell her if it's meant for her to know. He nodded. "I guess I can go and do a few free missions and come in the afternoon." With that, he left. Maya let out a sigh of relief. Then she made her way to the office.
Meanwhile, Emelia was sitting beside Ami. Ami had looked different from the last time Emelia spent time with her. She looked a bit thinner, probably from the IVs she was given. Her skin was still a bit pale, but not as pale as when she first arrived at the hospital. Her eyes were still a vivid sky blue, just looking a bit weary. "What's the other reason Ami?" she asked her. Ami fiddled with her hands, a habit she did when she was really nervous. "Well, it's Hyuga. I don't want him to see me like this. I don't know how I am at this point." She closed her eyes. "Back after the first strike on the Hive, I said that I, er you know..." "Loved?" she said. Ami nodded, "Yeah. I guess you can see that it's hard for me to say it now. And there's the whole 'me not knowing how he feels about me' thing. I want to sort all of this out before I get to see him. Maybe this will help him too. At times he acts like a friend and others he acts like something more." Ami felt the heat rush to her face more and more. "And I almost killed him at the Hive too. I'm confused and being away will hopefully help me make the right decision." Emelia smiled warmly. "I see. Ami, you've grown in this short time. If that is what you wish. I'll support you. We're friends right?" Ami nodded. "Right."
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That afternoon, Hyuga had indeed arrived back at Ami's hospital room. When he opened the door, a nurse was there changing sheets. "Wasn't there someone here this morning?" he asked. "Oh you mean Satomora? She left this morning." said the nurse. He looked shocked. "Left? But she was sleeping last night." The nurse laughed a bit to herself. "I'm sorry if I wasn't that clear. She regained consciousness this morning and with Miss Shidow and Miss Prescott she was transferred to another facility." It wasn't long before he figured that Maya lied to him about Ami sleeping. "Do you know where?" She shook her head. "No, those types of things are confidential. Oh but Miss Satomora left a message for anyone who wanted to come see her." She gave him a chip. "She said to 'show it to everyone on a vision phone.'" "Thank you." he said. And with that, he left.
Hyuga had managed to get Kyoh, Emil, and Ethan together. Karen was nowhere to be seen because she had to go back to her Maiden duties. He had explained to them what the nurse relayed to him. "Well, we should get a couple answers from this then." Ethan said. Hyuga inserted it into a slot located on a projection device. Then the screen was blue. "Is this how you wanted to be at?" said Emelia. It was obvious that they were trying to adjust it without realizing that it was on. "That's fine." said Ami, "just bring it down a bit." After some shaking, it showed Ami. They too noticed how Ami looked now. It saddened Kyoh a bit, since he had never seen Ami like that since the years they've known each other. "Hey guys." she said through a strained smile. "I must look a mess right now. Now you know why you should never meet me at least a half hour after I wake up." There was some snickering in the background from Emelia. "Anyway, if you are looking at this, then it means that you know that I'm transferring from the medical center here. I can't say where I'm going right now. But I'm going to be okay. Maya and Emelia are with me. Good news is that President Dallgun pardoned me for what happened. He just told me to get well and the Guardians will welcome me back with open arms." Her facial expression suddenly became serious. "I'm going to help Maya construct a cure for the Seed-virus. It's the only thing I can do right now to help. Anyway, I want to say that I'm sorry to all of you. If I was honest from the start then none of this would happen. But to be honest..." She stopped, thinking about something. "Ami?" asked Emelia. Ami shook her head. "I'm okay Emelia. Just thinking about what to say now. " Her eyes turned towards the camera. "I just wanted to do something myself without screwing it up. But it didn't work. Sometimes I think I should have just stayed at the colony and continued my studies there. At least then, I wouldn't be hurting like I am now." There was silence on the recording. Suddenly the screen went blue again.
After a couple seconds, it showed Ami again. But she looked like she had just finished crying. "Sorry about that. I shouldn't make it a habit to cry in front of people." She took a deep breath. "What I said earlier, I still want to be a Guardian even though I think that. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have the friends I do now. And traveling so free as I am now is something I will never exchange for anything. Now all you leave, this part of the recording is for Hyuga's eyes only." The recording went into another blue screen, caused by Emil stopping it. "Come on all of you. If Ami says it is, respect her wish." Kyoh and Ethan followed Emil out of the room. Soon, Hyuga went and resumed the recording again. "So by now, it should be only you Hyuga. I didn't want to risk sounding like an idiot in front of Kyoh or anything. Anyway, I wanted to personally apologize to you for everything I did when I was in the state I was in. Even if you forget, I can't right now. That's why I left without telling at least you. I don't think I have courage to see you eye to eye right now." She fiddled with her fingers again. "That's why I don't think you should try and find me right now. This will give us the time to sort our prioties out before we could talk again." Ami then smiled. "But when I come back, I want to have a through talk with you. Don't do anything stupid like getting yourself hurt or captured...again or even die until then." There was another voice. "It's time to go Ami." That voice belonged to Maya. Ami gave a stern nod. "Goodbye, but not farewell. For we will meet again." The screen went to blue, then fuzz.
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Yay, time skip after this. I was going to write what was going on between this and the next, but it gets touched upon in the ficlets. So there. Next chapter is gratuitous Phantasy Star Online shoutouts. It's the game that got me to love the Phantasy Star series.
Next Chapter: Two years. Two Guardians. What will be the outcome?
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