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Quotev: Kaida7707
Tumblr (here :D): gigglingfingers
Any of my works anywhere else is NOT me. Don’t read it there, just read it for free in these places.
⋆｡‧˚ʚ ୨ৎ ɞ˚‧｡⋆ Requests are not open! Maybe later! ⋆｡‧˚ʚ ୨ৎ ɞ˚‧｡⋆ („• ֊ •„)੭
Swept Up Winds || Ninjago x Reader
You do not remember. Whenever you look, it is an empty space that stares back. Wu knows something, he knows what is covered by the silence but refuses to tell you in his wisdom.
But you are not worried. This absence does less to tie you with anxiety and more to allow you to live freely without any cares or worries, following whichever wayward path you want until a hint points you in a direction. The ninja are here, too, but when they step towards you, they risk becoming just as lost as you.
Morning Star, Whom Do You Guide? || Dion Agriche x Reader x Jeremy Agriche
Your mother has died, your father is alone. He remains steadfast as a Head, but you still stumble when struggling not to collide with those who aim to trip you.
Edited: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mostly edited:
The Sun Makes the Crown Shine || Riddle Rosehearts x Reader
Blot stains the ties between King and Queen.
[COMPLETED] 1 2 (bonus notes)
Note: my stories will have a chapter that ends with [#/#] most of the time. those are my editor counts. [# of edited chapters/total chapters that should be edited]. It comes up every five chapters for each story.
villain character who has a last minute change of heart and sacrifices their life to defeat an even bigger bad but it entirely does not land as a redemption with the heroes. the heroes are just like "oh hell yeah two birds with one stone. thank fucking god i really didnt wanna have to deal with that guy anymore. good riddance."
"Sestos and Abydos are divided by the sea, but Love joined them by an arrow from his bow."
So we'll manage
I think you're right, though I don't live in a huge city where moving around without a car is impossible or anything, but a driver's license is still useful.
Also, yes, I'm very patient, especially for you. *wink wink* (ゝω・´★)
If I did request something, it would probably be a riddle again (or maybe leona or vil hmm) I DONT KNOW I JUST LIKE HIM ALOT
I ended up skipping Leona's lounge wear. I need Riddle cards!! BUT I got Cater's "King of Tricks" card for my "Royal Chef" Trey because I just love Heartslabyul so much, OMG, especially Cater. He probably comes second after Riddle in Heartslabyul, he's just so charming (／▽＼)♪
Man, I wanted tweels cards too, they look so good and THAT IS A TOUGH QUESTION I LOVE ALL OF RIDDLES CARDS
But if I had to choose, it would probably have to be "Birthday Boy" or "Birthday Bloom." I usually don't favor birthday cards because to me they're not very unique, but I love his. Like in "Birthday Bloom," he looks so happy, I reckon he loves flying. And in the "Birthday Boy" card, he's so cutee and a bit awkward, and I also love Trey and Cater in the background. I like it in general when we can see other characters in the background.
And Malleus, well, he's not my favorite. I'm not very interested in Diasomnia overall for some reason, I think my favourite is lilia. I know Malleus is pretty popular, one time I had someone yelling at me after expressing slight dislike towards him I dont remember what it was it was something he did😭😭 I don't hate him or anything, though I think he's pretty cool and I understand the appeal, but he's definitely somewhere at the bottom of my list. But my friend says I remind her of him🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️... what about you?
Ahah well, I don't want you to be tired or anything. Writing is supposed to be a hobby, not a chore, and besides, I love talking to you
♪～(´ε｀ )
Btw have you heard of sparkling stars?
Also, I don't like this new tulip emoji! It used to be red; it was more refined. I think..(；´_ゝ`) I mean, it's cute and pink is my favorite color, but the first one was kind of prettier, no?
-🌷
omg stawp wdym ur especially patient for me ꉂ(˵˃ ∩∩ ˂˵) (bc i take forever to reply 💀). DUDE I GET IT. RIDDLES GREAT
this one especially likes a single dorm... i can feel the favouritism im suspicious... BUT YO I SAW THE KING OF TRICKS CARD it looks so good but i dont remember if i ever even saw treys card... tbf i was kinda inactive during the time they were all coming out so yeah. cater and riddle are so different i didnt expect u to like him right after?! (•̪ o •̪) thats so surprising!! but i get it i get it
OMG YEAHHHH whenever riddle looks so happy in his cards its so heartwarming, especially considering this is probably the most freedom hes felt in his life lol. its very sweet to see. that awkward smile of his though aw that was something else. i found it so cute when i first saw it. and yeah i also like that, its so cute to see other characters included in the main focus's moment.
i get it!!! i found diasomnia kinda of dull at the beginning as well until i saw silver and malleus lol. im not partial to their dorm either tbh. AND THEY SCREAMED AT U? AS A JOKE OR? wtv the case i hope it wasnt bad! but ur friend says u remind her of malleus do i think that hm hmm... u actually remind me more rook bc ur a thinker and add to what u already know in a story, but its difficult for me to place u in any one character entirely. UR VERY DIFFERENT THAN THEM AS A REAL HUMAN BEING NOT BASED ON A VILLAIN (╭ರ_•́)
it is a hobby! dw!! if im tired ill take a break or write something else before getting to any request, so its fine. and i love talking to u too （￣︶￣) . i havent heard of sparkling stars, no, what is it? and ohhh so thats why the tulip u were using wasnt coming up for me. yeah pinks pretty but red does look more elegant. i wonder why they changed it.
WHAT DO U MEAN SILVERS DAWN CARD IS NEXT I JUST SPENT 100 PULLS TO GET FLOYDS MERMAN CARD YESTERDAY. I HAVE 70 GEMS LEFT U EVIL PEOPLE THIS IS SO CRUEL
⇾ Continue search: No new memories...
☕︎ Rest: Masterlist
⇽ Reminisce: Island of Reminders
Guys i forgot to tell u 😭 minor changes u DONT need to reread to understand story:
Ch8: mc hates rollercoasters
Ch 20-21: mc still stops, but regrets not continuing to toy with jay
Ch 26: clone!mc is harsher with wu and he no longer passes out after their fight (and hospital windows dont open lol)
Ch 28: child kai's more rough, thinks his uncle is a real man, kinda goes into shock (?) after nya falls in. past mc scared of mc after losing her powers, mc more irritable with her
ch 29: mc's annoyed everyone's acting like she's wild and cole talks her out of it. garmadon did NOT send letters to lloyd in darkleys, i forgot he was trapped.
ch30: mc recognises extinct animals' skeletons
ill delete this later!
Lloyd didn’t feel better since the talk no matter how he tried. Every attempt failed, and the frustration inside kept building when there was nothing for him to do. Nya paused her tests to shake her head, Wu gazed out at the shore, you tilted your head from where you lay high up on a branch, and Dr. Julien—amazing mind he was—shrugged apologetically and admitted he already completed everything he needed to do.
Instead the morning was spent by the shore. Each kick displaced sand that muted his steps while bursts of his newfound power tore the serene setting. The ocean froze at his feet, fire singed the sand, rocks rumbled under them, lightning charred tossed fruits, and green balls of energy shook the trees.
The waves lapped at the sand peacefully in comparison. It swayed in and out of its limits, taking with it grains whenever it receded amidst hushes, and you watched quietly until someone spoke. “I see that you are taking your punishment quite well.” Wu ran a hand over his beard, lips stretched into a small from where he observed from under your spot. “Perhaps next time, the ninja will have less to worry about.”
As if you were part of their team. A muted scoff escaped, your lips twitching at the joke only you were privy to in his words before you turned over on the branch. “While they’re gone, you’re free to give me your tea.”
“One who always leans on his staff can never learn to walk without it.”
“It’s tea. Or should we all abstain from Zane’s cooking as well?” Wu turned away to overlook the camp just when you jumped down. “You act as if it’s wine or alcohol. And I do recall a promise to make some for me in that prison.” Instead your request very soon after was met with refusal, as were all your next ones over the days.
Maybe you wouldn’t be irritated with him if he’d just kept his promise. You certainly would’ve if you hadn’t searched his room only to find that he’d hidden the tea leaves like some treasure too precious for your dirty hands.
“I’ve changed my mind.” The old man knocked your head with his staff and forced a frown on your face when you covered the spot. “You must discover what soothes your soul more. Perhaps in that, you’ll find something warmer than any tea.”
Had he gone crazy? What could make you feel better than sitting somewhere and watching the sky in complete silence, no responsibilities nor urgency as you drank tea? To think you were foolish enough to believe he actually loved you because of something more intrusive than responsibility and that he didn’t hold your actions against you. This must’ve been his own punishment for you.
Nya diverted your glare from Wu. “Looks like the guys are in trouble.” She hopped inside what she called the Earth Driller, shouting out her destination to the others who had neared when seeing her rush before she ushered you in. Lloyd ran over from the shore while you walked forward, clearly intent on joining until Wu stopped him once more.
“Sorry, Lloyd. Still trying to prevent the Final Battle.” Nya smiled apologetically from your side before you piped in. “Have some patience, Lloyd.”
“I’m trying.” His shoulders sagged as he watched the reinforced glass slide closed over your heads, a deep frown on his face that you turned away from when the drill at the front whirred to life. The jeep tilted, the swirling point cutting into hard earth and plunging you into darkness.
The walls of the sky were replaced with those of dirt. Perhaps they would have closed in on the one whose wind would be useless if you didn’t have Nya here—sweet, thoughtful Nya who had no powers. “Should’ve known they’d mess it up somehow.” The girl laughed softly as she easily created a new path. “Poor Lloyd, though. He’s been pretty restless since he got that special dragon power, huh?”
“What is so poor about that?” you asked while through the vibrations and rumbles. “New powers add to his impatience just as new machines add to yours.”
“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure it’s more than that.” The haunting glow of the screen that intermittently beeped was the only thing lighting her face amidst earth untouched by humanity. “Like he’s just… impatient to end everything, you know?” she asked. “Can’t be easy to hang back while your dad tries to take over Ninjago.”
As if that mattered the slightest. “He will be fine.” A sliver of air swirled between your fingers and brushed your face. “He’s the Green Ninja.”
“But he’s still Lloyd.”
The quiet drone of the vehicle plowing through earth continued. Your seat rumbled, eyes trained on your fingers where you could almost see the thread weaving between them before you closed your eyes and leaned back. “They are one and the same.” And if he wanted to complain so much over his heart in the face of what must be done, the gi should have chosen someone much more assertive who would’ve finished it without hesitation.
You inhaled the gust that hit your face. With it came that familiar voice, a drawl that painted the darkness with a frown. You couldn’t see his eyes, but you could see the dark hair that tilted with his head when he looked down at you. The green strands that swayed with the wind. “I don’t care about that. I care about you,” he said exasperatedly. “Do you never want to run again? Climb the trees? Get those flowers at the top?” No reply came. You looked away, hands squeezed together where you sat on the engawa.
The sigh that released next to you would have convinced you he was annoyed if it wasn’t for the arm that wrapped around and pulled you into his side. “Listen to me: you’re never getting that done to you. Ever,” he settled while your head rested on his shoulder. “You can stay unmarried for the rest of your life for all I care. You have me.”
If Nya was speaking, you couldn’t hear her. The breeze filled your ears, the one that carried with it the rustling leaves and a time gone past. Your face scrunched at the peace that washed over you, unfamiliar yet too strong to be fought against when it carried the place you belonged.
Did you even belong in such a peaceful setting? Did you fit there? Where the whisper of silence brushed over everything, where the wind held you carefully? Where there was another, who sounded so concerned when he uttered such strange words.
‘Maybe he loved me.’ If only he was here for you to check.
The window’s sight revealed nothing, even with the glow of the screen in front of Nya. Only rock, only dirt. Your reflection alone, next to someone in the same car yet so disconnected from. Your face turned away while she—they looked ahead. Your sight diverging, your feet pointed away, your goals never aligning with theirs, and your place falsified amongst recorded faces. Even now what were you doing, trudging through earth to reach those you were not part of yet must help because…
‘…I have their hearts.’ The ones you must cater towards to maintain the ties between, and that you’d rely on should you ever need protection—including from those they beat so earnestly in.
You tilted your head only to pause when it hit the glass. You stared at the window before sighing and closing your eyes, air brushing against your skin when you let your head hit the seat’s back.
The light you spent the entire day under nearly blinded you when you broke through. The wheels screeched before Nya slammed into the foot of Garmadon’s robot and lurched you forward. She drove away despite the loud crash that shook and echoed in the air, skidding to a stop in front of very bewildered boys and Lloyd’s mother. “Hey guys.”
“H-how did you know we needed you?!” Jay exclaimed.
“Look up.” Their sights were directed to the Falcon circling over their heads until she yelled. “Get in!” They jumped into the seats that opened up for them before the clear roof slid back down. “Hang on!”
The samurai warriors that swarmed forward like ants were left crowding around the hole Nya drove back into. Their silhouettes were blocked when the jeep straightened on a level path, the ninja previously keeping themselves from falling straight down now slumping in their seats with relieved sighs.
“Heh, cool hat.” Jay placed it on his head while speaking. “I wonder if it'll make me look more menacing.”
“Is that really wise?” Nya asked while looking back at him. “If that helmet turns you evil, we're kicking you out.”
“U-uh, is that possible?” No one responded, and Jay nervously laughed as he took it off. “Uh, it's probably got Garmadon cooties anyway.”
‘Cooties?’
The radar Nya was following blinked out for Wu’s face to replace it. “Did we get the helmet?”
“We did, and we're all accounted for.”
“Then let's rendezvous at the clock.”
“It's so dark in here,” Jay said. The small beeps that followed his words made you look back to see him trying each of the buttons. “One of these have gotta be a light switch.” He pressed a few more, seeming as if he’d be happy with the smallest light that could come forth from them until the warrior that suddenly crashed onto the glass above him made him shriek.
“Uh, sis, can we go any faster?!” Kai called.
“We're going as fast as we can!”
“We're definitely not going fast enough.” Cole worriedly watched wheels that didn’t belong to them near, the Stone Warrior driving the car narrowing his eyes until it suddenly lurched forward.
The jeep stuttered and skidded against the dirt wall. You just barely avoided crashing into several buttons whose purpose you didn’t know by grabbing your headrest, nails digging into the material only for there to be no need. Nya slammed her foot on the pedal, the resulting speed pushing you back until the Earth Driller suddenly tilted up.
Light blinded you without warning before wheels slammed onto the ground. Looking back showed that the stone warrior hanging off the window had disappeared and that the other jeeps were falling behind.
Jay was also watching, body stretched and arm against the headrest to look behind before sitting properly once more. “We're losing them!” he cheered.
Others joined in the celebration or merely sighed in relief, sagging in their seats until stomps and cracks stopped any peace from settling. Zane looked back to the source, the very same mech Nya had saved them from running towards them with a growing trail of fallen trees. “Uh, oops.”
“Hang on!” Nya swerved into stalks of bamboo. They cluttered and bounced when hit, blocking the view ahead no matter how hard she tried to look past them. Sharp twists and turns left you hugging the back of your seat, your form teetering with everyone’s screams and Nya’s white knuckles while the jeep flew out the bamboo forest. “Have we lost him?!”
“Not quite!” Kai cried just before the ground stretching ahead was interrupted by sky. The wheels spun uselessly when Garmadon lifted the vehicle and jerked it around, sending you crashing into different surfaces or Nya before hurling you away.
The few seconds you felt midair were so short but you could still feel something pressing down on your torso. You would have placed a hand on it at the sudden constriction until the Earth Driller crashed into a cluster of trees. The brief moment you struck all air out of her body ended when the car fell and slammed to the ground.
The resounding crash vibrated through your bones and the glass under your head. Groans and choked confirmations of everyone’s wellbeing seeped into the stifling air, but you could barely focus among all the aching parts of your body. You were left bent and cramped against the dashboard, hand going to your neck bent at a precarious angle while Nya lifted her knee from your gut. ‘Ah, the window didn’t break.’ Glass shards sticking in your head and neck would be much worse than your back.
Nya slammed her entire body into the glass, her face screwing in worry when it didn’t open before her gaze darted to you. “It's stuck! [Name]!”
Your hand pressed against the window and a gust tilted the car. It wasn’t nearly as strong as you wished, disconnected from you and only succeeding in tilting the heavy vehicle until the ground threatening to meet your head parted. “I think I'm gonna be sick,” Cole moaned.
“I finally have you, ninja,” Garmadon sneered from his seat, face split open in a grin while talking down to the car’s inhabitants, “in the palm of my hand.”
They hit the glass or tried the buttons, attempting for any to work as the Dark Lord laughed until a familiar scream rang out. “Let them go!” Green light shot forward. The brightness would have made you wince if it wasn’t for the fact Garmadon was forced to listen when he was thrown back from you.
A final cacophony of screams shredded the contained air when you flew before crashing against a fallen trunk. The glass finally opened. You sat up with everyone else, groaning and rubbing your neck with an aching body that shook when it stood carefully before Nya grabbed your arm and pulled you back down. The mech Garmadon was steering lay defeated on the ground in a clearing a little away, sparks popping pathetically around what was once threatening.
Lloyd came forth from under leaves larger than his body. His chest rose and fell faster than usual as he watched the machine his father controlled, fingers trembling until Nya’s shout brought him away. “Lloyd, be careful!”
His head snapped up to where she was as if he’d forgotten what just happened, eyes wide before he quickly narrowed them and looked ahead without a reply. He watched the mech intently, smoke billowing from the parts—and Lloyd, for the briefest of seconds, hoped his father escaped until he came running right out.
The Lord of Darkness certainly couldn’t become a “lord” without being so resolute, he supposed. Lloyd’s gaze dropped from his coughing father holding an injured arm for only a moment before he clenched his fists and forced them back on the man breathing heavily amidst sparks.
“Holy cannoli, Lloyd and Garmadon in a face-off!” Jay’s voice raised as he watched his student step towards the one who limped forward. “Take the shot, Lloyd!”
“He's vulnerable!” Cole called.
“Do not hesitate!”
“Strike now!”
Lloyd glanced at the group before facing forward again. The Dark Lord was in no condition to fight, coughing while dragging himself forward to his son who was supposed to end him. “I'm sorry, Father. You leave me no choice.” He didn’t get a reply. The older man tried to speak but more coughs interrupted his wheezes. “It is our destiny.”
Green light appeared between his raised hands before converging into a ball. It grew in size and energy, wisps forming and running through similar to Jay’s lightning before Lloyd raised his head. Was this right? Was he actually doing this? No, he had to. He didn’t have a choice; this was destiny—their destiny. One shot! He was so weak right now. One shot he needed to grit his teeth and push out, and everything would be alright!
He could regret it all later. He could think and reason with himself after, deal with the emptiness after, when he couldn’t turn back time, when the world was already saved. One shot! Just one shot at the Dark Lord! Just one shot to save the world!
‘Just shoot!’
‘Just kill him!’
Wide eyes reflected a man so crumpled he didn’t look like he could ever hold evil. His hand shook on a trembling, injured arm, eyes wide in pure fear that no one should hold when staring at their son before they squeezed shut and prepared for the fatal shot. Lloyd grit his teeth. Green energy swirled precariously while his heart thundered so much it jumped into his throat and his hands ripped away.
The ball disappeared. The sizzling light faded abruptly, leaving only his gasps to fill the air between them and a pounding heart in his ears. Garmadon raised his head, wide eyes reflecting a weak son before battle cries diverted his attention.
Stone Warriors poured into the small clearing, disrupting the tense silence between the two. Lloyd grit his teeth and lowered his head when his father laughed in his face, gloves squeaking in tight fists until his mother yelled. “Lloyd, we need to move!”
“The clock is not too far from here!” Nya called.
The Green Ninja stepped back, passing one final glance over to his father before turning around. “Okay!”
The Earth Driller drove off the fallen tree to meet him halfway. It bounced when it landed on the ground and swerved to a stop in front of the running Green Ninja. “Better hop in, Lloyd!”
“Go!” he shouted. The glass shut as soon as he was inside. Nya immediately acted, the drill coming to life once again and driving them back underground.
Jay did not let rest take him for even a moment as soon as they were underground. “Why didn’t you take the shot?!”
“He was right there!”
“You had him—!”
“I don’t know!” The eyes crowded the congested vehicle, making him want to get up and jump right out of it wasn’t for the future tying him down.
Did everyone just forget who Garmadon was—who he really was to Lloyd? What he was when he endured a truce with the ninja and worked with his brother to save Lloyd from the serpentine? He couldn’t! That’s the same dad who hugged him and parted with a reminder he’d always be proud of him, even though they were on opposite sides and would one day fight! Who said in advance he’d grow into a good man and worried him now because what if he said that in case he wasn’t alive for it?
He couldn’t just forget! “I don’t know.” He struggled not to choke on it as he glared down at the clenched fists on his knees. He wanted to bury his face in his hands. He wanted to hide away from everyone and from his father, from destiny itself. Instead Lloyd kept his voice even when he spoke up. “How long until we reach the clock?”
“Just a few minutes!”
Lloyd nodded. The disappointed grumbles, while not illintentioned, still dug into his chest, and he bit his lip until a hand on his back made him turn his head.
“It’s okay, Lloyd.” His mother’s sympathetic frown stared back. It was all he had wanted for who knows how long—probably forever, but now that he got it, Lloyd found himself frozen because somehow, it didn’t feel like what he needed.
It was sickening, because she didn’t say it was okay because she understood, because she also didn’t want him to die or that it had to be by her son’s hands, but because what he did was a mistake that didn’t unravel their plans and that he could recover from.
‘...I’m so alone.’ Was he the only one here who didn’t want—
“Yeah, it’s okay, Lloyd.” Cole spoke up suddenly to dispel the tense silence. “We jumped the gun back there. We have a plan to stop the Final Battle, and we’re gonna stick with it before we do anything hasty,” he said. “Right, boys?”
“Right.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that, Lloyd.” Jay gave the boy a sheepish smile while Zane nodded at him. “We’re all here for you. Whichever way you want to finish this, we’ll do it.”
Yeah, as long as the job was finished. And if the Clock didn’t work… Well, the truth was in his words even if no one noticed it. They were all there for him, not with him. Not in this.
No, this wasn’t the time for his feelings to intrude on his duties as the Green Ninja. Everyone else was correct, he was only hesitating because it was his father. He had to get himself together. The Clock was just up ahead and he had to hope returning the helmet would stop it. That, and if his father met him there—
If his father met him there, or it didn’t work, he had to…
Lloyd sucked in a deep breath, fingers clammy where they trembled in his gloves. “I won’t hesitate next time.” He’d be the Green Ninja they needed. There was no other choice. When world peace hung precariously on a balance, his only role was as the Green Ninja, and he’d keep his hands steady when he delivered it onto the Lord of Darkness.
Evil people did not deserve a second chance. They were akin to malicious beasts who hunted for sport, and malicious beasts took every opportunity to gorge themselves without care of the blood staining its teeth and trailing behind so long as it was satiated.
That was what you thought when Misako placed the helmet on its perch too late. The Doomsday Clock was unlike any other clock you’ve seen, with rotating spheres at some ends and heavy ticks that seemed to move the rock under your feet and shake the air, but it seemed they’d never again spin when they came to a resounding stop.
The Stone General’s cry after he desperately tried to stop them from getting to the perch was enough sign that the ninja had succeeded. “It worked!” Lloyd cheered.
“We did it!” Nya squealed before running into Kai’s arms, returning his hug tightly as the group cheered.
Lloyd swivelled his head to gaze at the smiles splitting their faces and the joy they couldn’t contain in still bodies, his own breathing fast and grin uncontrolled when he looked upon your confused face. “What happened?”
“…I guess it’s fine.” Despite the words, it took a second for you to tear your gaze away from the clock. “I could have sworn the time ran out before the helmet was placed.”
Lloyd’s heart stuttered before he brushed your words off. If it didn’t work then the clock wouldn’t have stopped, so he opened his mouth to assure you everything was fine (everything was fine) now until loud horns suddenly blared and tore the air.
The clock spun again, ticking and tocking as Wu cried and the stone general laughed. “No!”
“The Horns of Destruction!” Misako gasped, sounding on the verge of hyperventilating as she turned to Wu with watering eyes. “We were too late!”
Similar to the crystals in the cave, light bounced off the different parts of the clock before shooting forward. Advancing stone warriors blocked the length of it, crowding you and Nya back until rumbles beneath your feet caused you to look down and screams whipped your head around.
Nya was already running to the edge of the cliff. The ninjas’ new weapons mattered little when the ground beneath their feet tore off. They tried to jump back up only to land uselessly back on the broken piece of earth. Nya screamed and grabbed her hair at their shrinking forms before holding her arms out, teetering over the edge precariously until you yanked her back.
“Nya, stay back!” her brother warned.
“Kai!”
You didn’t meet her panicked gaze when it snapped to you. Instead you chewed your lip while staring down at the stranded group. Should you use your wind? But the ninja had each other. They’d probably survive—
Nya tore away from you. You widened your eyes and turned only to see the Stone General holding her tightly in place as she shrieked and jumped. His fingers dug into her arms and held them back as she tried to run away, her eyes squeezed shut and shrieks tearing through your nerves as you stepped forward. “Don’t—ack!” Hard stone locked around your neck. Your eyes widened when the stone warrior dragged you back by the arm around your throat, cutting off your air and ignoring the nails that scratched its coarse skin.
“[Name]!”
“Aw, look at that. How precious,” the General laughed. “Worry more about yourself.”
Wind flung you down uselessly. The Stone Warrior rolled with you, arm still tight as two others went to grab your hands. Its weight kept you down against the floor until a gust turned you over but still you couldn’t escape. Another arm latched around to keep you from arching, your feet dragging against the ground to push you over or swinging down to kick your heels against its leg only for a sharp pain to shoot up your own.
The sky blurred. Your chest constricted painly while your mouth remained open, trying desperately to heave in the slightest breath as the General’s voice warped. “Don’t let go no matter what!” Your heel slammed on rock and a gust shot you up. Your dirt-smudged clothes cleared up for a moment when a sharp inhale entered only for the tightening arm to choke it back out.
“Uh—akh—!” Why wasn’t anything working?! He’s going to kill you!
Nya’s panicked face swam. Saliva you couldn’t swallow to drip over your lip as laughing faces under helmets merged and pointed at you. Their swords glinted when gesturing to you before fading in and out of darkness.
“M-mor—!” You wheezed when the arm tightened, tiptoes dragging back against the rock as your voice threatened to split through your head and chest. “Morr—o!”
The wind flung you down from the branches. Arms caught you before you could crash into the ground, holding you close while the boy’s laugh came out choked from the impact. “Told you I’d always find you.”
The stone warrior shouted something intelligible when it hurtled back. Others screamed or were crashed into, some even falling over the edge of the mountain with the two of you. It didn’t let go of you despite the air whistling past your ears and the plummet in your stomach, the pain that shot through its body when it slammed into another mountain’s side travelling into your body and dislodging any breath you took. You bounced off different ledges and cliffs until you just barely mustered enough wind to slow your descent, but it ended up doing little when you crashed into the last ledge.
The dark clouds and steep mountainside blurred through watery eyes, your body trembling and brain blank that you almost didn’t move before forcing yourself up. “U-ugh…” Your bones creaked. Your muscles were ripped. Your head struggled to raise itself once you sat, your swimming vision slowly coming to a stop before you got to your feet.
Everything hurt! You let out a shuddering gasp when you stumbled, not even knowing which limb or aching spot to hold until growls made you flinch.
Cracks spread through the mountainside. The stone warrior lifted from the crevice it created before you dropped your arms and it crashed back inside. Each explosion reverberated through the ground enough that one might’ve thought that an avalanche would tumble and bury you both under it but you didn’t care—didn’t notice. Not when your eyes were trained on it, not when your throat still burned and your body ached.
Your hand raised with the rock and crashed forward with the stone warrior. The scream cut short with a dull crack. Debris fell and blood poured into the water, flowing downstream as new cracks and shapes broke through the mountainside. The trees held their breath as you refused the man escape from the river, both hands holding the large dark rock you swung repeatedly to drive the stone warrior deeper into the wall.
Your hands dropped when you finished. They shook violently when you raised one to tug at your clothes, your heart pounding under it with heavy heaves until a groan slithered into your ears. Rubble displaced when the stone warrior tumbled out of the crevice, dust and pebbles falling around its form while you struggled to open your eyes more. But they remained half-lidded so you shook your head instead, dispelling even a sliver of the waves distorting your vision before shifting your feet to jump up into a spinning kick. The subsequent blast sent it flying off the ledge and into the treetops while you stumbled and fell back.
Cursed indestructible warriors. You ought to just send them all to the Green Ninja next time.
Your head thumped softly against the ground when the space opened up. A cough split your throat before you let your mouth remain open, heaving in air for a pounding heart while you tried to straighten your mind. Trees waved their branches under an evening sky until you blinked and it was late afternoon again, mountains reaching for the dark clouds swirling around their tips and blocking the sky.
The tremors eased to a whisper. So did your breaths. You stayed there for a few more seconds, eyes sliding shut before you let out a loud relaxed sigh when a wayward breeze brushed your skin and no other sounds breached your vicinity.
Peace.
The world kept the silence with you. There was absolutely nothing here. Only you, only your soft breaths while you escaped the word and all the creatures it held. The air at this height swept a chill up your body that was pleasant after your struggle, a sign of safety and serenity where you could focus on such things before you finally pushed yourself up to sit.
Your palms dug into the dusty pebbles until arms came around you. You raised a brow at where they interlocked before looking over your shoulder, a head of very familiar dark hair hidden in your clothes as she shook. The mysterious girl didn’t say anything this time. Her chest shook against your back and her shoulders jolted with each hiccup, making you stare until you lifted a hand to the arms above your chest.
Of course, there was nothing there. Your touch easily passed through. Your brow furrowed, mind struggling to join the sight of arms with something until you jolted. “Nya!”
The girl disappeared when you shot out of her arms. You landed on the mountain of the Doomsday Clock seconds later, eyes darting every which way at the empty clearing. “Nya—!” Coughs burst through your throat and exploded in your mouth. Your hand flew to the burn in your throat as you walked past the broken edge of the mountain, staring at the vast forest that stretched until the edge of the island where Garmadon’s base was stationed. It surrendered no sign of where Nya currently was under the dense foliage nor did her scream echo back, the forest holding its eerie silence until you dropped down.
“Nya! Nya!” No footprints, no broken twigs, scraped bark, displaced bushes— “Scream! Tell me where you are!” Even the view from the trees gave nothing. Leaves and branches blocked the view wherever you looked and forced you back on the ground, surrounded by trees from all sides that you didn’t even know which way was forward and which was back after all the spinning and running around. “Nya!”
Nothing! Nothing at all!
You stopped in a small clearing. The girl was nowhere to be found soon. Neither were the Stone Warriors, nor did the smallest bird even chirp in alarm or critter scurry away when you came forth.
Wait, that meant that they already passed by and scared them all off—no, you could’ve done that too with all your screeching!
A loud shriek pierced the silence when your fist slammed into the trunk of a tree. Your chest rose and fell heavily, mind racing in the silence that screamed back before harshly rubbing your head.
The Stone Warriors took her. The forest was immense. You already covered—how much did you cover? Which parts? Ugh, you’ve been running around like an out of control animal!
Again a branch creaked when you landed on it before you climbed to the top. Foliage still blocked the view of what was below, but what it didn’t block were the towers in Garmadon’s base. You bit your lip, knuckles whitening around the bark before you flew off.
The beam of light from the Celestial Clock shot through the Stone Army camp and struck the ground in the centre. In the spot it bestowed the Garmatron, a large tank with many features and a large cannon.
The Overlord, who had helped him thus far and was now informing of its Dark Matter ammunition, paused when General Kozu came forward. “We've retrieved your helmet,” he said. “And a prisoner, my Dark Lord.”
The girl, the one named Nya and the sister of the Master of Fire, struggled against the warriors’ hold before snapping at him. “You'll never get away with this! My friends will put a stop to you!”
Garmadon paid her threats no mind. Instead he chuckled, a sound that developed into a loud laugh as he closed the distance. “Red doesn't seem to be your color.” He picked an apple, something that was supposed to be his snack but was also suitable for shutting her up as he stuffed it in her mouth. “I think it's time we try on a darker shade. Hand me the Dark Matter!” he called some roaming Stone Warriors. “I believe we've found our first test subject.”
The girl’s protests burst when she spat the apple out but were muffled again when they pushed her head into the box Kozu brought forward. Garmadon watched with clear satisfaction, hands behind his back and a smile on his face until his General spoke. “There was another girl with her, my Lord.”
“[Name]?” His smile fell, surprise flickering across his face before he schooled it into a scowl. “And where is she? Have you disposed of her?”
“No. She is on her way here. She could arrive any minute.”
“Why didn’t you say so sooner?!” Only the Green Ninja could destroy his indestructible Warriors, but any Elemental Master that weren’t the main four were immense threats when they could use their powers without any weapons and uproot his plan! Garmadon's frustrated yell echoed as Kozu lowered his head until a familiar being floated behind him.
“Or maybe, she is already here.” He took in another deep, shaky gasp, a rough wheeze that was supposed to be a laugh slipping out as he continued. “I believe, you’ve found your second test subject. One that is far more powerful…”
Garmadon didn’t notice his scowl falling. It happened instantly as he turned back to the Overlord, his agitation absent when he spoke quietly. “[Name]?” That girl? The one who took care of Lloyd when he was young? The girl who, at that age, clutched onto his sleeve often? Who would do so even while upset—especially when she was upset?
“What is the matter?” The human child looked up at him by the monastery’s entrance. “I find your eyes keep returning there.” Perhaps it had been too long since his last visit, as the fingers wrapped tightly around the sleeve of his paofu were so small he was perplexed when they first grabbed his hand. She was a strange child, but he supposed all human children were.
The students his brother took under his wide wing were sleeping, all but one. He was the most determined and talented by far, and he rose early to reflect such qualities and train with his sensei alone. But this young girl had also woken up despite undergoing no such work as if something pulled her here, and perhaps something had—the very thing that filled such young eyes with distaste that was so familiar he smiled.
“Nothing.” But then they went there again, to the master and pupil in the courtyard. “...I don’t like them.”
A soft sigh escaped his nose, one that twitched his lips further before he spoke to the small head of hair. Perhaps it was because oni blood flowed through him and she was merely human, but he towered over her more than any other “man”. Yet her fingers still squeezed his clothes.
“And why not? See, there is a wise, kind sensei.” One hand went to her back as he leaned down a little, the other gesturing to his brother before at the young human boy with him. “And he is your—“
“They’re always together.”
The petulant tone would have been scathing if it did not come from such a small child. Garmadon turned his head, brows raised before relaxing. Ah, how nostalgic. The warm air, the rustling trees, the clear skies—yet not enough to quell her small glare and pouted mouth directed at the two. “You do not like being second, do you?”
You looked up at him, but it was brief. Soon you averted your gaze and swung your hand awkwardly, yet your eyes still flickered up to the training duo. Was this how he looked? No, he was much more troublesome about feeling lesser than as a child, but Garmadon smiled and slipped his hand out of his sleeve. “Don’t worry. You are first in my eyes.” You looked when his large fingers encompassed before following him across the engawa surrounding the courtyard. “Let’s go admire the flowers; I heard that they are blooming again in Jamanakai.” They mattered little to him, but he knew the tales of you climbing the tallest trees to sit between blooming branches.
Again you glanced back once you reached the gates, but it was much shorter now as you looked up at him. “I want flowers in my hair.”
“Do you?” Garmadon laughed as you stepped outside the gates, his hand tightening around yours as he began climbing down the steps. “I am no stylist, but I’ll see what I can do.”
But Lloyd was the Green Ninja now, the one destined to defeat him and the one coming forth. He was no longer a small child, and neither were you.
“Is there… a problem?”
The wheeze snapped Garmadon out of his thoughts. In front of him was a different girl, one whose skin had turned grey and was growling at the warriors holding onto her. “No.” He waved his hand, and the girl’s groans turned into giggles when she was free. No longer did she threaten or spill her vitriol for him, and neither would anyone else in this world once they were hit.
And in a world where everyone was evil, shared his image… he could live with Misako and Lloyd again, even with the darkness running through his veins.
Garmadon glanced at the box of Dark Matter, the material lumpy and oozing thick bubbles before he turned to the Overlord. “This will be perfect for her.”
Stone warriors scurried around like ants but were as formidable as cockroaches. “Look for the one who isn’t a bug.” You would have laughed at your own mutter if you weren’t busy trying to spot Nya.
The entire path here, you search for her failed. Instead you had to wait in a tree overlooking Garmadon’s base, yet the time that passed hailed nothing and only built up in you. You hadn’t seen her enter. Was she already inside?
You tapped your knee a few more times before jumping down. The space was much emptier than before, dirt pathways empty of brainless fools scurrying around and constantly moving machines unmanned and still. They didn’t hide behind rocks jutting out of the ground and even the watchtowers containing vigilant servants just this moving were suddenly empty. In mere hours, they’d all cleared out.
If they left, they probably took Nya to anywhere on this damned island. An infuriating thought if it wasn’t for the fact that you saw them all crowded around a massive tank that truly turned them into insects.
You huffed in your travel between roofs before opting for a land search where structures and machines wouldn’t block your view. The Stone Warriors’ language was muted by distance while you passed through the empty camp, your feet silent amidst different contraptions. One hung over a pool of a strange black substance, a thin layer of contaminated air seeming to float above as its bubbles grew and popped. You narrowed your gaze at one before moving on.
Until something fell on your head. You jolted before grabbing the offending item blocking your vision. “Ouch! Ugh, what is—?!” The crate thudded and scraped against the dirt when you flung it down. The very dark substance you just passed splattered with it while you rubbed the rest off your face, the thick, cold material coating your hand and dripping down your skin before you tilted your head up. Red armour stepped back from the edge, drilling your already bubbling rage deeper into your mind before you shot up.
The Stone Warrior who reached for your neck was the first to flip over the railing before you blasted the rest over with the kick, a scoff escaping at their yells before your hand raised to wipe your face again. “Disgusting…” You ought to tie them all up and send them to the Green Ninja next time.
If there was anything to be mad about at all, because there was nothing on your face.
The thick cold liquid dripping down your skin was gone. Only the chill it left behind was proof it was there. Even looking down at your scuffed clothes that were previously splattered by them showed nothing. Did it evaporate? Something as thick and clammy as that? It was impossible for it to seep through your clothes as well.
But that was exactly what it did. Tugging at your collar when you felt bites revealed strange marks on your body that didn’t exist before when you looked down, grey and almost dead. The only way they reflected life was when they wriggled, the edges growing and reflecting as your blood thumped.
“Well, well, is that [Name] up there? And all alone?” Garmadon's voice turned your head to look over the railing to see him flanked by several Stone Warriors. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” His grin glowed amidst the muted tones of his base, the burning red of his Warriors and his eyes the only other vibrant colour. “Looking for your friend?”
You grit your teeth, ignoring the stings piercing through your skin to jump down. “Where is Nya?”
The Stone Warriors were insignificant, easily flung to places you did not care to aim at. What was truly strange was the floating… thing circling above him. Strange wheezes came from it, small giggles that made you tense as Garmadon spoke. “Nya?” He tilted his head and tapped his chin before perking up. “Ah, I recall. The girl.” He stepped aside with a grin. The strange floating thing laughed scratchily, darting your gaze up at it until you saw who Garmadon gestured at behind him. “She’s right here.”
Was she? Nya didn’t have grey skin or purple eyes, nor did she ever growl at you with a splitting grin. You stared in disbelief, mouth falling open until she suddenly lunged forward. “Keep her down!”
“Nya?!” She grappled your collar with a large grin and was about to swing her fist until you caught it and twisted her arm behind her back. The subsequent cry loosened your hold until her head slammed into your face, blurring your vision before she threw herself at you.
Garmadon’s grin disappeared as he watched you fall to the floor before kicking her off only for the girl to jump right back onto you like a rabid animal. Calls of her name quickly stopped when she didn’t listen, your fingers latching her hair when you barely dodged a kick to slam her head into the watchtower. Perhaps the scuffle would have been amusing if he wasn’t scrutinizing the dark spots on your face, the ones that spread over Nya in seconds like a dark tide covering the shore and froze on your skin. “Why isn’t it spreading?” he hissed.
“Perhaps,” the Overlord breathed, “she needs another batch.”
Another? When you already took one? But Garmadon only clicked his tongue before yelling out, “Fire!”
“What is the matter with you?!” The question was not for yourself then her, the girl who only growled like a cornered beast when trapped. She even spat at you! You grimaced at the saliva, ignoring it to keep her hands behind her back until something hurtled into your back.
The crate fell to the floor as you shouted. More cold matter splashed, sending chills that pierced straight into the back of your neck until Nya whirled around and punched your head.
Your vision teetered precariously. Your hand didn’t even reach your skiing mind when she grabbed you and threw you down. She grabbed the box still spilling its contents and slammed it down, your hand coming up to direct it to crash next to your head as the other sent forth a gust that launched her into a different structure. “What is this?!” The thick liquid pulled a grimace on your face as you watched Nya sit up and shake her head from the wreck of a wooden contraption.
“You’ll see.” The calm response made you scowl while she ran forward and the droplets sunk into your skin and turned it grey. “You should have joined when you still could willingly, but you’ll find serving me much easier than staying with that old fool.”
A pulse ripped through your head. Your body jerked and your hand flew to the infected palm trembling from the searing pain instead of the advancing girl. It felt like the skin was being burned off, the pain such that you didn’t even notice the grey had stopped spreading as another pulse made you hold your head and ripped reality.
Garmadon disappeared. So did Nya. Instead you were plummeting through air, wrenching a pair of wings behind someone’s back until they broke before kicking them into the ground. The soldier landed with a deafening crash where cracks spread before your vision shifted to a swarm headed straight for you. It seemed they would either collide or pierce straight through your body with their spears until they suddenly plummeted.
Wings flapped but failed to raise their bodies. Their hands flew to their throats as they suddenly struggled for air. Others reached out to the very person they were fighting, fingers stretched until they fell limp one after the other.
The world came rushing back when a scream rasped in your ear. “What do you think you’re doing?!” Your hands remained as the bodies changed, instead revealing Nya gripping your clothes with terrified eyes and fingers clawing her throat.
You flinched before shoving her off. She fell and rolled onto her side, gasping the same way Garmadon did while leaning against a jagged rock. “That Wu…!” The Lord of Darkness was frozen in place. His fists were clenched and face twisted into a deep scowl while grinding his teeth together. His eyes blazed in a way you never saw before, and you were left bewildered before reaching for Nya. “Don’t let her get away!” She latched onto your arm and attempted to throw you down, the beginning of another fight you couldn’t entertain when your brain stretched and vision blanked.
You escaped back into the forest. It was all you could do, and perhaps you’d mull over abandoning Nya if your arm didn’t suddenly seize and make you trip on a branch. You crashed into the ground most unceremoniously. Dirt stained your clothes and scratches decorated the surface but you paid no attention as you yanked a sleeve up, a sickening gray staring back before you crouched forward.
“Ugh…!” You couldn’t scream, but it hurt so much! Tears pricked at your eyes and your forehead pressed against the ground while you clutched the burning arm. You bit your lip, muffling your squeal and hitting your head against the ground before raising your arm to bite on it.
It was a miniscule relief. You stayed there like that for a while, chest shuddering with occasional squeaks until you finally sat up. Your lashes clung together and tears had darkened the dirt where they landed, and you sniffled as you forced yourself to stand despite the pain still burning into your arm and head.
Garmadon had cursed Wu. He probably had a way to solve this then, didn’t he?
But the step you took forward transported you into a different place. One moment it was day then terribly dark. Your hand lifted in the shade to push away foliage brushing your face and daylight revealed empty air.
What was going on? Whatever Garmadon had used, your state now was much worse and more vulnerable than in the museum. More pain, and many more memories.
Memories Wu would stop when he erased your pain.
Silence in which only the wind intruded in passed. You stayed still for a few seconds, breathing the fresh air in before lifting up. The ninja’s base was farther than the nearest shore that pointed to Ninjago. There the water sloshed, peacefully glistening against the soft sand and beckoning you over. Flying was much safer than walking.
But then a vast expanse of mountains and sky replaced your vision. You succeeded in landing on a branch this time, but attempting to cling to another one replaced your vision with leaves and soldiers staring up at you through them until you fell.
You hit the ground with a grunt before digging your nails into the dirt. ‘How am I supposed to…’ You stayed still, the scent of grass slipping through your nose until pain ripped through your chest into your mind. “Agh—!”
Searing pain blinded your vision as you stood, shaking your head in a desperate attempt to dispel the dizziness as your arms shook violently. It even tore through your face! You covered it with a muffled scream, scratching the spots and walking forward into the clearing only for your head to snap back and your vision switch to reveal a tree.
…This was going to take a long time.
Wu: "no. no tea for you."
mc: "just say you want me to die."
Just kidding my readers are very sweet. I've gotten messages and comments multiple times to take care of myself. I just got super busy the past few months, things started popping up one by one and I also kind of forgot how to write/edit at times. I'm okay guys, alhamdulillah!
i missed writing a lot though, and i also missed talking to u guys so much. I honestly thought that I wouldn't have anyone to write for when I returned because it's been so long but not only did u have more people, I also still got comments from people reading my stories or liking them or checking on me. I'm very fortunate to have such wonderful and sweet people here. This was supposed to be a surprise for u guys as a thanks for waiting lol. Love u all! Have wonderful lives mwah mwah mwah ill also pray both ur lives are filled with joy!!!
⇾ Continue search: No new memories...
☕︎ Rest: Masterlist
⇽ Reminisce: Island of Reminders
AUGHH STOP WDYM YOU LOVE TALKING TO ME OMG AHDHSH (*/∀＼*)
BYE HE WATER IS MY HOME NOW
I didn't get to celebrate. I mean, I wanted to, but the person I was supposed to celebrate with kind of ditched me💔 But that's okay. My friend sent me flowers when I told her so（´ 3｀)
Damn I thought exam season was over😭😭But good luck. I'm sure you'll pass. You sound like a smart person🙂↕️
Do you have a driver's license? I find driving very stressful. My dad wants me to get one, but I get really anxious, and I feel like I don't have the attention span for it. I'm a bit of a klutz.🥲
I myself am stuck on book 7.5 😭😭 I've been waiting for the release for so long, and when it did, some other things started catching my attention, so I still haven't finished it. I'm just saving for Riddle's cards for now. I'm tempted to pull for Leona's loungewear card, though.
(＃￣З￣)
And I'm very excited for whatever it is that you're cooking up. I know it'll be so goodﾟ+.ﾟ(´▽`人)ﾟ+.ﾟ
But yes, the other anon is right. Get rest first if you need we can wait🫡
-🌷
THE WATER CANT BE UR HOME HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO TALK THEN ٩(ˋᗣˊ*)و
Aw it’s ok, I’m happy u got flowers!! Even if they’re not as beautiful as u ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ if u ever wanna celebrate just lmk id love to write something for u (just give me time to do so lol… which seems like it’d be easy for u bc i think ur patient and sweet)
I don’t have a drivers license! Even tho it would be really good!! I input my destination on the map and watch it go from 27 minute drive to 1 hour commute… and then it took me two hours!!! =͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪‧̣̥̇) no but it’s actually good cuz alhamdulillah the timing worked out perfectly when I got there. Also, im sure that’s just because uve never done it! With more practice u wont feel that anxious driving. Actually, zoning out while driving is pretty normal i heard and there’s a psychological reason for it… but i didnt study the brain so idk what it is 🫠
Dude I wanted to get Leona’s loungewear too but Floyd’s card got the rerun… I had to make sacrifices (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ) next year I’ll get it inshallah. WHICH RIDDLE CARD IS UR FAVOURITE?!?! And while we’re on the topic, do u like malleus?
I always find it funny when readers tell me to rest. They’re all so sweet and I understand why because I’ve mentioned before in my more popular story something worrying ig but I’m fine!! I missed writing and I also missed talking with everyone too it’s so enjoyable and lovely 🫂 the people who read my things are so sweet and kind that I’m actually surprised and very grateful whenever I think on it. Alhamdulillah! Mwah! So wonderful
Summary: the island of darkness brings to light ur own delusions
6,470 words
⇾ Continue search: Last One Standing
☕︎ Rest: Masterlist
⇽ Reminisce: The Perpetuity of a Prisoner's Voyage
The gust of wind that shot out pushed Nya down. The ship jerked forward for a good few seconds before settling back into its previous speed, letting Nya shake her head to dispel the brief disorientness and stand. “Huh. You’re right, it did get stronger.”
“Yes, but not strong enough.” You landed back on the deck with a frown. “Something is missing. It should be more—it should be strong, not this weak.”
Weak? That wasn’t weak at all. From a single move alone you produced more gust than every time you had done by merely waving your arm or using your mind—you moved the entire Bounty! “That looked plenty strong to me.”
Your head turned to her. Nya knew the expression scrutinising her wasn’t from annoyance, but the subsequent sigh as you turned away and leaned on the gunwale made her falter. “You wouldn’t understand.”
It was maddening. The wind was more but not more enough. One move gave you so much progress, how many more were you wasting? How do you find them? Random motions left you feeling like a fool when you gained no strength, and this move—the strongest one you knew at the moment—was still weak.
And it shouldn’t be. But Nya and no one else would know that because they didn’t know what it was supposed to be, only you.
Teaching yourself was no problem. It was what you could miss by only having yourself as a teacher, but who else could you ask?
Your hand went through your hair as you looked at the vast expanse of sky and sea. Breathing it in still alleviated some of the tension that had built up so rapidly, and you blew some wind towards your face until Nya’s voice disrupted the serenity. “Maybe try training with Lloyd?” she suggested as she stopped beside you. “He can control all four of the guys’ powers, you know. Maybe he can teach you something about your own?”
Learn from the Green Ninja? The thought made you huff, and your gaze returned to the clear sky and the hand you curled the air around. “I’ll think about it.” Correct yet incorrect, right but wrong. Having Wu teach you was risky when he could study your fighting habits and skillsets, but his nephew? The Green Ninja? It felt less like a threat and more of an intrusion, someone who should never be there.
“The Dark Island!” You looked up, wondering what it was she saw in the blank horizon until a far off speck appeared. You raised your hand to block the sun’s glare on the ocean to better spot it until Nya’s went to your shoulder. “I’ll tell everyone and prepare to land. Don’t stress over it until then, okay?” She patted you with a smile that made your shoulders slump. “You don’t need a teacher to learn—even though I think it’s still better for you to have one, haha. But if there’s anyone who can figure this out, it’s you.”
The punch she gave to your shoulder dislodged a small chuckle. “Thank you. You should let everyone know as soon as possible, though,” you reminded with a nudge of your head in the bridge’s direction. “Even Cole has grown agitated after days of preparation.”
Nya nodded with a smile and ran off. You watched her with the same expression before returning your attention to the ocean. The speck was larger now but blocked by your hand when you raised it, nudging a current from its place akin to how one would pluck a thread from cloth and weaving it around your fingers.
Nya was correct; There was no need to worry. You could just watch Lloyd and pick up some advice, maybe ask some questions if you so wished. He didn’t need to see anything of yours.
You changed into your combat clothes while the Bounty closed the rest of the distance. The ninja did a short search of the nearby area once you landed, revealing that the island was teeming with the very stone warriors that were immune to Lloyd’s powers.
The scroll Misako studied was laid out on a table you all surrounded. Cole and Jay were sitting across from her as Zane, you, and Kai remained standing behind them. “The scrolls say there is a hidden temple on the island. If you find it, it will give the ninja pure elemental powers—powers that can destroy the indestructible army.”
“So you're saying we get to fight?” Cole asked before pumping his hands with a large grin. “Whoo-hoo hoo, I've got happy feet!”
“And you, my son; here it is written: ‘For once the Green Ninja finds the instrument of peace, he will strike it—and know the power of the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master.’”
“Ultimate Spinjitzu Master?” Lloyd wondered.
“It means you will be able to invoke the power of the Golden Dragon: an ancient fighting style only practiced by the First Spinjitzu Master.”
The ninjas’ mouths fell open. They glanced at each other in disbelief, an action that was caught by Lloyd who grinned on the other side of the table. “Hahaha. Jealous?
“Uh-uh, wait a minute,” Kai retorted with a raised hand. “This all sounds too good to be true. What's the catch?”
The Fire Ninja’s question was clearly tainted with envy and made you and some others laugh, but it turned out to reveal very necessary information from his master. “The ‘catch’ is the Temple could be anywhere on the island,” Wu answered, “and all we have is this.”
A medallion emerged from his robes, and the man whose title you learnt was Dr. Julien took it with strange fascination. “A medallion…” Inscribed on the gold was a dragon and stars lined against the edge. Three holes arched atop the creature’s head, a design so simple that you wondered who would want it as he lifted it towards the confused ninja. “It's like a compass: When the three holes match up, the medallion will reveal where the temple is hidden.”
“Uh, how'd you know that?” Jay asked.
“Oh, I did a lot of reading in my spare time.” Zane smiled when his father met eyes with him and held the ornament out for him. “Hehe, adventure stories were my favorite.”
“It’s a medallion.” Your blunt statement attracted everyone’s gazes as you furrowed a brow quizzically to where the Lightning Ninja sat. “How do you not know of it? Were they all thrown in the sea?”
“Whoa, whoa. Okay there, know-it-all.” Jay scoffed and raised a hand as if to stop your condescending tone. “How’d you know that?”
“And how do you not?”
Kai and Cole interjected to stop the conversation from spiralling into an argument that would stretch far longer than needed. You only had daylight to search, you had to get it together! It was a thought Zane agreed on when he took the medallion and spoke up. “What are we waiting for?” He rushed past everyone towards the exit, pulling the others to run after him without delay.
You were of the mind that you were staying until Jay stopped right after pushing off his seat. “Come on!” He looked at you as if he were daft for not already walking with them, raising your brows in surprise before falling in step and Wu stopped his nephew.
“Not you, Lloyd.”
“Agh, seriously? Are we still doing this?” Lloyd griped.
“Wu is right,” Misako interjected while he stepped back. “If you were to come across your father, it could prematurely start the Final Battle. We need to be at full strength before we take any risks.”
“Hahaha.” Jay’s laugh was loud and clear, drawing everyone’s gazes as he smugly grinned with the other ninja. “Jealous?”
Lloyd sent back a glare at the group before Zane’s father spoke up. “Well, I could use some help around the shop,” he suggested. “We should get working on vehicles that might help give us a fighting chance.”
“Remember, Garmadon doesn't know we're on the island,” Wu warned the group you now stood with. “It's imperative that you stay out of sight.”
“Of course, Sensei, don't worry!” Jay confidently waved him off. “Have you ever known us to veer from a plan? Huh?” Lloyd, Wu, and Misako stared back with clearly unamused frowns. You were about to complain you were innocent of this until you realised you’ve veered off paths instead of mission plans, making you hum while hands stacked on top of each other.
“Ninja—!”
“Shh! Not so loud!” Wu whispered harshly. “Are you trying to get us caught?”
“...Go…”
The ninja should have never gone. This was clear when they had to run back after revealing themselves to the Stone Warriors in the process of saving Zane, who’d gone to retrieve the falcon he thought had been lost forever.
But Jay found the Temple of Light in the middle of playing “I spy”, and now you were gone. While they veered off the plan, you veered off somewhere along the escape route and disappeared.
Lloyd probably should have expected it. He and Nya certainly weren’t surprised, but his sensei had spoken so urgently that it was as if he was as unaware as the ninja were. “We must find her immediately! Keep your eyes peeled, ninja!”
That was weird. It was obvious you just went ahead with your elemental power instead of taking what must’ve been, to you, the long way around. The Stone Warriors were chasing after the ninja, and even if some had broken away to go after you, could they fly up the mountain like you could? The chances you were caught were extremely low, so Lloyd and Nya had no idea why Wu was so worried.
He decided to place his trust in you anyways. He was more worried about the Stone Warriors and falling off the mech Nya designed after her brother instead.
While they managed to lose them and make it to the top without losing anyone, the Temple of Light was nowhere to be seen. “Are you sure you used it right?” Lloyd asked worriedly.
The question was without an ounce of malicious intent, but Jay scoffed as if he had insulted his entire intellect. “Of course I used it right! It said it should be right here!”
“Well, until we find it, I've gotta find a way to slow them down.” Kai slammed the mech’s hands into the ground. Rocks and pebbles jumped with the vibration from each hit, the impacts causing Lloyd to stumble with everyone else as the Stone Warriors groans became louder. They yelled from the side of the mountain, both panicked and angry until Kai stopped and their screams faded. “That should buy us a little time,” he said before jumping down.
Lloyd turned away as soon as their backs were safe. Jay said that the Temple should be here, so they should search while they were still here just to confirm if he was right or not. The ninja climbed up the incline, their future leader at the back as he kept his head on a swivel until a sudden flash of light hit his eyes. Lloyd grunted and squinted up to see what it was, confused before his gasp redirected everyone. “The Temple of Light!”
It was small, fit for a building hidden atop mountains even when so bright and tall. The ninja ran forth, excited to gain back their powers and defeat Garmadon until they saw the heavy, thick doors already open.
The temple was eerie when possibly hiding someone in its darkness. It was completely empty apart from crystals that grew from different spots in the wall, pillars, and ceiling, their glow reflecting whatever little light peeked in through the window and staining it across different surfaces.
Who could be in here? A Warrior? Garmadon? No one at all? The ninja creeped in slowly, the pump of their blood the only sound in their ears as they looked around. Lloyd kept his hands up, ready to fight at a moment’s notice before suddenly perking up at the figure by the wall. “[Name]!”
“Seriously?” Jay didn’t even continue, seemingly tired of the question Kai voiced for once as everyone’s shoulders slumped. “How are you everywhere?”
“Ugh.”
“[Name]…”
The ninja’s groans echoed in the ancient temple. Lloyd laughed when they stretched at the brief peace they now had after being chased through the wilderness and up a mountain, but you didn’t answer, didn’t even turn your head or acknowledge their presence. Lloyd furrowed his brows at the back of your head and stepped forward to join you until Jay spoke. “Guys, check this out.” He faced the group, hand raised towards the wall with inscriptions they could barely see. “It's… us.”
“Impossible. It's everything we've ever done!” Kai exclaimed, walking to a wall now that he noticed the murals. They were barely visible in the dim room, but now that his eyes had adjusted and his focus had been called, how could he have ever missed this?!
“Finding the Bounty, facing the Devourer—” Cole excitedly transcribed the events that needed no telling to the characters until he pointed at one right in front of them. “Even right now!” A drawing of a man in gi pointed back at him, surrounded by the four other boys who everyone could tell the identities of without even a glance.
“How could it all be here?” Zane asked in wonder.
‘Destiny.’ The word crossed his mind, but Lloyd didn’t say it out loud. He looked at where you stood before following your gaze to the very mural they stood in front of, wondering what it was that took your attention—
A drawing of a boy in gi pointed back at him, surrounded by four others like him. Not a fifth. Not a girl.
None of murals had you. They showed Nya and Master Wu when they found the Bounty, and he, too, suddenly popped up in his older form against a herd of indestructible Stone Warriors, but you?
Where were you? You weren’t with the others rubbing to the Bounty, weren’t celebrating with them or fighting Serpentine. You didn’t show up in their rides or in front of the different places they’ve travelled to—the Great Devourer still had its tongue!
“Do you think I’m upset?” Lloyd looked at you when you spoke, expecting you to laugh as if he was being silly again only to see you continue to study the drawings silently. “I’m not. If anything, Wu should see these himself.” Maybe then he would finally understand that, by the very stories he believed to be destiny, you weren’t meant to be a ninja. You weren’t even meant to be here.
The exclusion wasn’t a surprise nor did it elicit anything—maybe something brief when it defied the beliefs others tried to instill in you. You’d forgotten the truth as well, but the neglected, withering flower finally bloomed when acknowledged.
This was how it should be. It felt right. Seeing your absence entirely felt correct, but you strangely continued to stare when you couldn’t tear your gaze away.
“Yes. Why wouldn’t we when you’re part of this team?!”
“Either way, I am sure you will find yourself. And even if you do not, you can still find yourself with us.”
“We're a team. We have each others' backs—”
“You don’t need anyone else. We’re a team.” The final voice triumphed over the others, a stranger’s but told with such finality that it washed everyone else's away. “I’ll take care of you.” The wall remained in your vision, but so too did his echo.
Whoever he was, he was right. You didn’t need a team. The only partnership—the only embrace you ever needed was between yourself and the wind.
“I’m glad you’re here with us.” Lloyd’s voice cut through your thoughts but you did not reply. He waited a few seconds, sending you a short, small smile when you glanced at him before he looked up to a different wall. It held something that did not happen yet, instructions for the future in a depiction of the ninja standing around the green one in the middle. “I think I know what we need to do.”
Lloyd went to the centre of the room where he was in the drawing, where green peeked out from under evidence of time. Lloyd brushed the dust off, revealing a dragon head that was identical to the one on his suit. “Look.” The ninja watching glanced at the symbols before going over to marks that matched their suits. One by one, they uncovered dragon heads that were similar to each other yet unique to their elements.
But a few seconds passed, and nothing happened.
Lloyd furrowed his brows at the unremarkable outcome before glancing at the others. “Okay… now what?”
A mix of shrugs and shaking heads, and the ninja glanced around for more clues until jeers ruined the contemplative silence. “Why does everything have to be so hard?!” Cole complained.
Everyone desperately racked their minds and looked around for more instructions on what to do, panic already seeping into the ancient temple while Lloyd shut his eyes and tried to remember any advice from the ones they left at camp. “For once the Green Ninja finds the instrument of peace,” his mothers voice echoed, “he will strike it—and know the power of the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master.”
“The bell!” His hand flew up to the ceiling where the grand object hung. “It's an instrument!” You were already gone, in the midst of exiting the temple to hold the Stone Warriors off as Lloyd spoke. “You guys ready for this?”
“Bring it.”
You didn’t look back at the yell nor the heavy ring that shook the air and echoed in your ears. You held them for a moment by the door, grimacing until a panicked shout seized you in place. “What's happening?!”
“No one move!”
Whipping your head around greeted you with Zane holding his arms up to warn everyone and Lloyd bathed in golden light under the bell. His fists were raised despite his frozen form, body stiff and eyes wide that, uncannily, looked exactly like his younger self’s when all other evidence of his new age was covered by the hood.
It was then you realised how anyone could still think of the Green Ninja as a young boy, when looking into those same frightful eyes that looked up at you when you first saw him in the village hanging on a baby shaped sign, with food splattered on his hoodie he painted to be like his father.
And then it disappeared. Lloyd relaxed slowly, mulling over something you didn’t know before closing his eyes and dropping his defensive stance. He turned his face up to the light and held his arms out, completely vulnerable for whatever happened next.
His fear washed away—no, was triumphed over. And in that moment, you saw—
‘Another child has died.’
And there stood the Green Ninja. The one who was supposed to lead a team and win peace for everyone. Not Lloyd.
Light bounced off him and the crystals. It would have been wondrous to watch if you just stayed, but no. They could handle the Warriors themselves. Especially the Green Ninja.
It was not a surprise that you didn’t return that night. It was near impossible to see in the dark forest with no light, but you were not attempting to travel, only to traverse back into the past.
It strangely worked this time.
“Little girl, where are you?” You did not answer the voice. The men underneath walked slowly, swords sheathed and hands cupped over their mouths. “Come on, don’t you want a sweet treat? Come here!” The red they wore on their armour, usually bright and daunting, was dull in the shades of the trees.
They remained standing in place, hands hovering near their faces before they dropped with shared sighs. “Why are we stuck looking for that wild girl?” the one farther away said, the coaxing tone dropped from his voice like garbage. “We have more important things to do. Let’s go back and say she’s gone.”
“And face punishment? You are not bold, but overconfident.” This one was underneath you, helmet glinting just a few metres under the branch you sat atop. “Come, stay awhile. You saw the tracks; surely she’s around here.”
Your hand pressed against the bottom of your foot, blood pooling between the skin and your fingers. Bits of branches and thorns stuck in, but you let them extend the stay in favour of staying as still and silent as possible. Your breaths hit against your palm in heavy bursts while sweat beaded on your forehead and neck. A different drop entirely fell, crimson red splattering on the soldier’s helmet with a loud crash in the forest that held its breath. His finger raised and smudged the hue when brought up to his eyes before he tilted his head back, eyes meeting yours and freezing your heart in the branches when he frowned. “There you are.”
Yes, you remembered that time vaguely. You ran when you weren’t supposed to, and they were looking for you.
Could you even call this remembering? No matter. This was the first time you received a memory and knew the context, and without pain as well.
The wind you used to retrieve it died down before you opened your eyes. The city was bright and endeavoured to make the night like day—a spectacular view, but one that washed away the peaceful serenity of true night.
Just quiet. No one around, not the laughs of children nor ninja telling you to get down from the tree. Just the smell of the fresh breeze that went through your clothes and brushed your face, and the stars looking down on you.
Yes, the precious stars that the city took away from you. You hadn’t realised you missed them until now. You hadn’t realised they disappeared at all in the city.
“…I will die in a land that’s not mine.” The soft words came out quietly, sung into the air after you already received a memory. “The dancer’s crossed that precious fine line.
“The wind does not reach her. The food has not been sweeter.” Your leg swayed lightly where it hung from the branch as you studied the stars, whose light seemed to seep into your soul to decorate the empty feeling similar to how it adorned the darky night. “She cries and pleads, ‘I want to leave,’ but she can’t come nearer.”
The ‘one two three’ poem was too short. Scattered. This was more complete, something that fit your desires more under a sky so serene and wide.
“I will die in a land…” Your hand raised to touch the stars and sent forth a breeze when it could not. “That’s not mine.”
That’s not yours.
The singing stopped. You stayed still until the branch creaked under your shifting weight. Nothing greeted your eyes at first when you sat up, just the moon and stars when you blinked before you could faintly—very faintly—discern the silhouette of treetops stretching far off.
To one side of the island was a small light: Garmadon’s base, always working. Constantly, consistently. On another side was the ninja’s team: sleeping, peaceful, and waiting for day to come to train more or even defeat the Dark Lord.
And here you were, in the dark where you belonged. In silence that fit you and that you loved until you saw they who were surrounded by others who were likeminded; noisy hardworking villains with noisy hardworking villains, and quiet sleepy ninja with quiet sleepy ninja.
And neither place belonged to you, and you could not tell what the place you belonged to was supposed to be when you couldn’t remember the people there.
“…I will die in a land that’s not mine.” The whisper came out hushed. You pinched the fourth finger of the opposite hand as you studied the dark island, something that was supposed to be especially unfamiliar to you but was only just as unfamiliar as any place you crossed was.
You stayed there, legs swaying lightly before you leaned against the trunk of the tree. Your arms came around yourself as the winds began to swirl, and you breathed it in with a shaky inhale and closed your eyes.
The morning light graced down on you favourably. Even an island as supposedly evil as this one had its own birds, their melodic chirps filling your ears and sweetly coaxing your mind into consciousness.
Where were you? What were you doing here? All questions that slowly drifted through your drowsy mind, but you paid them no attention as you opted for a while more of peace.
Hm… were those giggles…?
“Ugh!” A sudden slam into your back made you cry out and wince before holding your shoulder, the previous giggles erupting into laughs behind you that made you grit your teeth.
“Well, well. Look who it is. ‘Shocked’ to see me?” Jay’s incessant voice grated your ears as you turned to glower down at him, who smugly smiled while tossing a coconut up and down in the midst of laughing ninja. “So that’s where you were all night. I guess we should be happy you at least stayed close this time.”
Another coconut was thrown forward. It wasn’t done with the same force as before—probably an offering—but you still grabbed it and hurled it back. Jay yelped and stumbled, dropping his nunchucks to clutch his stomach with an indignant yell as you jumped down. “Hey, that hurt!”
“You’re lucky that wasn’t your head, you wretched dimwitted fool—!”
You were yanked back just as you nearly grabbed—whatever it was Jay was wearing. “Whoa, easy there!” You let out a loud groan when Kai spoke, his arms locked around you preventing you from beating his teammate. “We get that was probably annoying but no need to get so fired up first thing in the morning!”
“Probably?” You glared over your shoulder at him before pausing, just then realising the skin pressed against you before shivering. “Ew! Unhand me!”
“‘Ew’—Hey!” Kai held his arms up when you stumbled out with an offended glare. “What do you mean ‘ew’?! My physique is to kill for!” Oh, you really wanted to kill for it, but you said nothing as he leaned back and gestured to his body. “I bet all the girls would love to be you right now!”
“Kai! Stop harassing her!” Fortunately, your saviour and one of the few sane ones here arrived. Nya rushed forward and stopped next to you, cooling your vision instantly as you rubbed the dull ache in your back. “We just found her!”
“Harrass—harassing?!”
“He was harassing me. I was terrified.”
Kai scoffed, hands thrown up in your direction in disbelief before going to his hips when he walked forward. “You know who really harassed who?” he retorted in his sister’s face. “She did. When she knocked a coconut into your boyfriend’s stomach!”
You rolled your eyes while Nya’s gasped in horror. “Boyfriend?!”
Jay himself was desperately waving his arms and shaking his head from where he was, the two by his side giggling while a smirk quickly took over Kai’s face. “Yeah. Hey, now that I think about it, it probably still hurts, right?” He clasped his hands next to his head and pouted his lips in a strange fashion. “How about you go give him a kissy-kiss—ow!”
Thankfully, Nya shoved his face away with quickly warming cheeks. “Shut up! You’re so annoying!” Your bellowing laugh was cut short when she suddenly grabbed your arm and whirled you around to drag behind her. “Come on, [Name]! We have better things to do than hang out with a bunch of stupid guys!”
The ninja really were all rotten wood if compared to Nya. While she worked on yet another thing, they were off screaming and cheering and shooting elements from the new weapons they received from the Temple. They were loud—loud enough that Wu had gone off to warn them as you stayed with her. “How come they need a weapon but you don’t?”
“I’m not sure, either.” Perhaps they were weak, but you didn’t pose the suggestion as you lay on the front of the jeep she worked on while swirling air down your arm and letting it burst against your face.
At least this meant you were still better than them in elemental power.
A thoughtful hum came from Nya, who stopped her welding momentarily to look up at you. “Hey, you ever think there are other elemental powers?” she asked, making you perk up as she continued. “Sensei Wu never mentioned wind. Maybe there’s more. Like—I dunno. Water.”
Her musings brought a chuckle out of you as you turned on your side. “Ice is a strange elemental power, isn’t it?”
“I was thinking more like ‘opposite of Kai’s fire.’” Nya smiled and shook her head before returning to her tools on the vehicle.
You merely hummed. The wind continued swirling, slipping into your clothes to cool yourself before you opened your mouth. “Plants could be one.”
“Plants? Why plants?”
You shrugged offhandedly. “Just a thought.”
“Elemental power of plants…” Nya muttered the term, pursing her lips while cranking something before tilting her head back to look up at you again. “Wouldn’t nature sound better?”
Would it? You supposed so but didn’t give it much thought to smile down at where she crouched. “You tell me, smart girl.”
“Oh, stop it, you. I’m not that smart.”
The giggle that the two of you shared was interrupted once Lloyd returned to the camp with Julien. “If we're all gears, what if I'm the gear that doesn't work?” he asked Wu. “What if I don't do my part?” Yesterday after becoming the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master, he not only defeated the Stone Warriors but did so easily. Yet the sudden development in his power was only a sign of a future battle that shook his nerves enough for the question he kept in his chest to tumble out. “What if I can't defeat my father?”
“What if there are no more ’What-if’s’?” Good advice. You still rolled your eyes as the old man continued. “The Final Battle is almost upon us. When that time comes, we will know the answer to ‘what if,’” he told the boy quietly and solemnly. “Whether we like it or not.
Nya finished up with the jeep to raise her mask and walk over to them. “I know you don't want to face your father, but there’s no other choice,” she said, sounding almost apologetic until there came yet another interjection.
“But perhaps there is.” Misako came forward with a pleased smile and a scroll. “I used to think it was inevitable, but then I found this.” She let it unravel, the dark drawings spreading across the table Lloyd and Julien were fixing the Falcon on previously before the boy helpfully cleared the tools to the side.
“You mean Lloyd doesn't have to fight?” Cole suddenly asked, appearing with the rest of the ninja and the bird that had successfully flown off. “This I gotta hear.”
“The scrolls say that when the Helmet of Darkness is bequeathed to its rightful ruler,” Misako began, “the Celestial Clock will count down to the activation of an unspeakable weapon—The first sign that the Final Battle between good and evil has begun.”
If paper had emotions, you’d say the scroll looked livid. The small people and background burning a deep, vivid crimson and a face with horns and fangs glaring back at the woman.
“Did you just say ‘unspeakable weapon?’” Kai asked.
“Uh, I'm still stuck on what ‘bequeathed’ means.”
“Go on, Misako. Don't let us interrupt you,” Cole encouraged. “How do we stop the Final Battle?”
Misako looked down once more when they arrived at the table. “There is nothing here that explains what would happen if the Helmet of Darkness is returned.”
“Interesting,” Wu murmured. “Remove the helmet, the clock starts. Put it back, the clock stops.”
“And the Final Battle never starts!” Lloyd grinned.
“Bequeathed? Anyone? Is anybody gonna help me out with that?”
“Uh, that sounds great and all,” Kai interrupted Jay with an awkward smile before looking to the rest. “And I know we have our new powers, but—you expect us to get past his whole army of Stone Warriors and pluck the helmet off his head?”
“My brother's right,” Nya agreed. “They're good but they're not that good.”
“I know. And that is why I am going to do it. I'll just need a little help.”
You were walking towards where the ninja were called to the side until Kai stopped you. “Ah-ah, you’re on time-out.” You furrowed your brows at the finger he wagged with a hand on his hip, trying to side step him only for him to block you again. “Can’t bring you along when you might disappear again. Think about what you did wrong while you’re here.”
“So, I have to spend more ‘time out’ of the group because I left?”
“Yeah. Should’ve just stuck with us.”
Why was he acting like this? You tilted your head, bewildered before shrugging at smug smile. “Then we may go as two teams: the ninja, and me.” That was how it was all along, anyways.
“I agree with Kai.” Zane’s voice surprised both of you when you looked towards where he stood with the waiting group. “We will be going into a dangerous plan where Garmadon awaits. We cannot risk anything happening or going awry.” Was he even on the verge of a chuckle?
You stared, bewildered before releasing a small, relenting huff. “I’ll stay with you this time.”
“Really?”
The laugh from Jay made you glare until Cole also eagerly joined in. “Let’s do a vote: who here thinks [Name] should come with us?”
“Nope.”
“Not me.”
“I disagree.”
“And definitely not me.”
Your loud sigh brought with it Kai’s laugh as you pinched your nose bridge. “Guess you’re staying behind. Enjoy your punishment.”
“You’re only irritated that I was repulsed by your naked body.”
“Wha—okay, first of all,” Kai retorted. “‘Repulsed’ is crazy. Second, not naked!”
“Whatever the case.”
Your quips wiped his grin off so easily. Your lips twitched under his indignant stare before he gestured to himself once more. “I have shorts on! And I look amazing! Flaming hot!” He exclaimed while flexing his muscles before hurriedly shushing you before you could spout another reply. “And I’m not wrong! Did you see how many girls were waving their signs and screaming at me? Huh?”
“Kai, come on,” Cole suddenly groaned. “Get the helmet, save the world, remember?”
The boy looked back at where his team was snickering and waving at him before his gaze returned to you. You raised a brow, wondering what he was waiting for before sighing and walking in the opposite direction of them.
That was when he went to his team. Misako spoke quietly when he joined the discussion, her words inaudible from her as you went to where Lloyd was sullenly standing in the same spot. “You are not joining?” He should be more powerful now after yesterday.
“Can’t. Might trigger the Final Battle if I meet my father so soon.” Lloyd sighed while beginning to clear the tools on the table. His uncle and Nya had left, the latter wanting to show the latest addition to the ride she was working on and leaving him alone. “I feel so useless. All I’ve been doing is standing around while other people deal with my father.”
“People who are your teammates.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
The frown marring his face was resolute. You tilted your head at it before opting to gather the rest of the tools when his hands were nearing full. “I suggest you do away with that restlessness.” Lloyd looked up when you picked a screw he was going to take despite his crowded arms only to see your smile in its rightful place. “Where will it go if you never need to fight him?”
Yeah, that’s how you were supposed to look. But the familiar sight that worked wonders in alleviating tension couldn’t still the energy coursing through his veins. His face contorted unsurely before his shoulders sagged with his heavy heart. “…You really think this could work?”
The small screws squeezed together in the warmth of your palm as the other busied itself with grappling several items. Lloyd stood still, watching you turn your head to the sky in thought before looking at him once more. “Do you wish for it to?”
“Of course.”
“Then there is enough incentive to try. The world will know peace either way.” Regardless of whether it was kept by returning the clock or defeating Garmadon. “The only reason they are trying this method is for you, the son.”
Lloyd’s heart twinged at the words that strung it before lowering his gaze. Dr. Julien’s toolbox was by the table’s foot, and he stepped towards it and crouched down to place the items back where they belonged. He did so to escape your gaze, but the feet that followed on shifting sand and the hands that gave the remainder of the tools pulled out words despite his intention to end the conversation.
“I still want to help.” God, he sounded like such a kid, but he couldn’t stop it while receiving them. “I should be the one to…” To deal with him. To defeat him, if he must.
He bit his lip, suddenly trailing off and lowering his head “Lloyd.” He looked up from where he was slotting the tools in their place only to shut his eyes at the gust that hit his face and displaced his hair. “There is not only one way to help. Without Nya you would not be able to function, yet she rarely fights.”
Obviously, but Lloyd was about to say that he was best as and specifically trained to be a fighter and that, again, it should be him until you crouched down as well. “Bear with it. In the end, you will still be the one to fight him if this doesn’t work.”
Lloyd’s mouth opened before he quickly shut it. The voices of Nya replaced it, far off and barely discernible when quieter than the waves and birds’ calls. “I also want to be the one to save him.”
“…You’re saving him by avoiding the Final Battle.”
Wow. Great. Even you didn’t sound as sure, but Lloyd shook his head and sighed when he supposed that meant there really was nothing he could do except ‘bear it.’ “Okay.”
Save him by not fighting him.
What a great son he was.
kai: "i cant believe it"
zane reviewing the plan: "what?"
kai: "she said ew. she said she was repulsed?!"
cole: get ur head OUTTA UR ABS WE HAVE TO SAVE THE WORLD🗣️"
mc: "dont talk to me. dont find me. im not in the mood"
jay: hurls a coconut at her
mc: "how DARE you attack me in my HOUR of SORROW"
ok guys i got one more chapter for u but u have to wait until the end of today or tomorrow inshallah to get it cuz i made some last minute changes (i rewrote half the chapter). BUT ITS OK BC ACTUALLY THIS DEVELOPMENT IS BETTER AND THE WORDS FINALLY STARTED FLOWING SO I THINK THE CHAPTER WILL BE MORE FUN LIKE THIS. again i feel like a forgot how to write and edit for this story, so lmk if anythings off. mwah mwah
omg im actually kinda scared LAOFLFA
⇾ Continue search: Last One Standing
☕︎ Rest: Masterlist
⇽ Reminisce: The Perpetuity of a Prisoner's Voyage
Summary: wu pisses you off and you meet zanes dad
8,575 words
⇾ Continue search: Island of Reminders
☕︎ Rest: Masterlist
⇽ Reminisce: The Army that Rises
Cheers filled the air. The ocean swept over the sides of the Bounty, lulling it into a gentle rocking while the breeze caressed your skin and brushed across the dock. Murmurs of those you did not know reached your ears as the ninja mingled with the bustling crowd. Jay and Cole bid farewell to their parents, and as Kai and Nya had none, they spoke with familiar faces instead. “Now, Dareth, as the honorary Brown Ninja, we're entrusting you with protecting Ninjago and tending to the Ultra Dragon,” Kai announced loudly in a small circle of awe-struck spectators. “Are you up to the tasks?”
“I won't let you guys down,” Dareth nodded, clearly having never seen the dragon’s digested meals as he turned to the bystanders. “Did you hear that?” he hollered, arms raised to the sky in celebration of his promotion. “I'm officially the Brown Ninja!” Once again cheers lifted the air as he eagerly looked at Kai over his shoulder. “Huhu, what's my elemental power?”
“Uh…” Nya smiled as she suggested something next to her brother. “Hot air?
“So I command the wind… Cool.”
A scoff left before you could stop it. As if someone so pathetic deserved the wind, but you settled for letting him trip when he was suddenly affronted with a gale. Wu shot you a cautionary glance from across the deck, one that you merely smiled at before the gusts of the Ultra Dragon his nephew rode atop of caught his gaze.
How could anyone think of him as a child, when he was the exact image of the Green Ninja others imagined?
Zane was the only one who was not below. He stood next to you by the gunwale, watching the others with an almost forlorn expression before your voice brought his eyes away. “What bothers you so?”
“Well…” He hesitated, turning his head back to the crowd before sighing heavily. “Saying goodbye is disheartening, but I still wish there was someone I could return to,” he confessed. “The other ninja are my brothers, and I consider you all my family… but I see what I am missing in moments like these.” Jay had parents who fretted over strange things that applied only to him, and Cole’s father sang a short song tailored for his son. Kai and Nya did not have any parents, but the way they worked together, no matter how many times the other ninja or he himself had also done, just seemed different—an unspoken history in their silent teamwork and shared looks.
“Should I stay behind?” The question made him look over again as you pulled out your phone. “I will wave this when you return.” You did a small demonstration now, the pea charm swinging in the air next to your smile that brought out one of his own.
“Thank you, but I would much prefer having you with us.”
Wu walked forward to where you stood, his voice cutting through the shared joke. “Is there anyone you would like to say goodbye to?” he asked.
“My only family is my Falcon, and my only memory of my father was nearly erased,” Zane explained. “I will miss Ninjago for it's all I know,” he explained, casting a glance to the high buildings touching the sky and the sand which hid enemies centuries before he was even made. “But I am excited to see what the future has in store.”
“Well, my Nindroid friend, there are a few people who would like to say goodbye to you.” Wu swept his stick to the side. A group of girls were on the other end, cheering for the robot with heart-bedecked signs. He seemed to perk up momentarily until the wind swept his hair back, causing the girls to shriek while you and Wu laughed.
The owner of Lloyd’s comic store came forth, angering the girls he pushed aside with a grand smile. “I love you, you stupid Nindroid.”
“Stupid?”
Your question was left unanswered, muttered quietly to yourself until Wu spoke. “Pupils, it's time we set sail.”
“Goodbye!”
“See you!”
“So long!”
The sails lifted and the thick chain dragged the anchor out of the water. Droplets slid off the swaying iron when the ship turned, steering into the direction of the Dark Island until strange sounds assaulted your ears. You looked to the side to see the one named Dareth waving his hands in front of his face. Apparently the strange noises were supposed to be him blowing the ship away before he turned to the people behind the support he climbed onto. “You see that? It's working!”
Again you rolled your eyes. The people's cheers broke into gasps when the man was suddenly blown back, a loud splash muting his scream and tearing a giggle out of you until you caught Wu’s gaze. “What?” You straightened from the railing with a shrug while walking past him. “It was funny.”
“Funny to throw someone around?” Wu followed towards the stairs the ninja already climbed to the stern deck. “Or throw someone around who has bothered you?”
“Bothered me?” You stopped midway to look back at the old man. “He is tiny. Insignificant.” You pinched your fingers together around his head in your view, your mouth stretching at the small smile he wore as if you were a foolish child and not someone he feared yet loved unwillingly. “I feel nothing towards him.”
“But you feel something towards your elemental power.” Wu, too, halted, gazing up at your amused face as he continued. “Do you think he can’t be an elemental master?”
“He can. But of the wind? I doubt it.”
“And what makes one worthy of that elemental power?” he challenged. “Are you worthy of it?”
Yes, you were. The answer was obvious but your mouth still snapped shut.
Wu watched your gaze fall to the wood, eyes softening at the sudden unsureness that washed over you. He could almost see you for a moment—wind flitting through your clothes, the vast sky behind you, and cheers stretching like the far-off cries of seagulls until you faced him again. “Worth doesn’t have anything to do with it. I have it.”
“Ah, so anyone can have it. You—” Wu nodded his head towards the dock where the new Brown Ninja had climbed back up and was now waving his arms towards the departing ship. “Or Dareth.”
Instantly your face changed. A frown sullied the previous, almost innocent unsureness as you muttered to yourself. “Senile old man.” But you didn’t argue, just turned around and continued climbing the stairs to the stern deck as if Wu was nothing more than a gnat.
“Jay, did you make sure to pack clean underwear?!”
“Yes! Mom!” Jay’s hand slapped his forehead, the resulting sound overlaid by his peers’ laughs. Wu joined in as well, chest shaking as you stood silent beside him.
Lloyd was faring well in his continued training, but each new skill he perfected seemed to bring forth more relief and sorrow. He eagerly met with his mother in the day but refused the very comfort he sought at night, leaning over the gunwale to search for answers in the sloshing waves. Multiple times you had relented the fresh air you wanted to breathe after the museum incident when the ship was still airborne, but Lloyd caught you tonight before you could leave.
“Since when could you tell I was there?”
“Since I got thrown around blindfolded.” He didn’t even feel frustrated where he once would’ve. Each time he was knocked down that day desperation threw him back onto his feet. Lloyd chuckled at the memory, the sound quiet as if it did not belong here as you walked up next to him.
He talked so much with his mother. It seemed somehow fitting for the son of a historian to make history, but between all the stories, did he never once mention his future?
You said nothing. If his mother could not help him, how could you? And if he did not speak with her of his troubles, why would he wish to with you? Instead you waved your hand, air filling the sails and jerking the ship forward with a loud creak. Lloyd stumbled before grabbing the edge, looking up at the sails that drooped before back at you. “Are you gonna push us to the island?”
“No.” A few mere weeks after the museum incident, an earthquake that ruptured Ninjago’s ground revealed multitudes of Stone Warriors who had since disappeared. Lloyd’s powers only slightly pushed them back, but the supposed solution to that and the ninjas’ powerlessness was at the Temple of Light on the “Island of Darkness”, a place you’ve never heard of and appeared just recently.
But that was so very odd. You never needed to unlock your powers, nor did you ever own a Golden Weapon when there only existed four. Were they just that helpless, or was it something else? Maybe you never needed to unlock the wind because it belonged with you.
“Merely fooling around.” Yet despite your thoughts and the gust that returned stronger, the speed with which the ship jerked forward was still not as much as you wanted. Doing it again provided the same result and knit your brows together.
Any fool could just blow wind.
Lloyd stumbled once more before looking at you. It was obvious you weren’t “fooling around”—hell, he could see you were clearly checking something even while distracted with not knocking into you. “How about you start training with me?” he suggested. “We can train with our powers together then.”
“No one can teach me.” Ignoring the fact you were hiding from everyone, who knew the wind?
Lloyd paused, taking the seconds filled only by the soft crashes of waves and the fresh yet damp smell of ocean to think until he suggested something else. “What about Sensei Wu? He probably knows a thing or—”
“No.” The denial came out fast, far faster than you would have liked as you continued. “He knows nothing.” And that is how it should remain. Nothing brought you greater displeasure than him knowing your moves or skillsets.
“…Why do you hide your powers?” The words came out slowly, almost unsure until they were fortified by his reasoning. “Sensei Wu and Nya already know, and it'd be easier for you if you just told everyone.” And you would have followed the plan in the museum, would’ve blown the Stone Warrior into the hole. He’d been baffled at first when you merely stood there, heart still thundering from facing the monster until his mother spoke and he remembered your secrecy.
It almost seemed as if it would continue to stretch here. The ship lulled serenely, swaying side to side with the quiet pushes of the water. The moon, as little of its light he could catch right now, illuminated your still expression just enough for him to stare. The world prevented it from being quiet but Lloyd thought perhaps this moment was made for silence, as you stared at the dark, lapping water before lifting your head. A breeze swept through his hair as he waited, arms resting against the gunwale and eyes staring into each other until a smile spread slowly under the moon’s dim glow and reflected in his eyes. “Just in case.”
The words slid into his heart, nudging uncomfortably between the veins. “In case what?”
The question was lost to the wind. It weaved around your fingers, your smile strangely eerie against the backdrop of ghostly moonlight and murky waters. “Just in case.”
You were not wrong to hide your powers. In fact, you should’ve hidden them from Wu too so he would shut up!
“Focus, [Name]! You must focus!”
“What do you think I’m doing?!”
The storm that the ship sailed into was less annoying than this old man! Your feet stumbled despite trying their utmost to plant themselves on the stern deck, hidden away in a wet corner amid sliding water on teetering wood and battling winds above your head.
And your loss was clear from Lloyd’s far-off cry. “The winds are too strong!”
At least memories weren’t blotting your vision but you were sure you would have collapsed if your body wasn’t so panicked. It trembled pathetically, eyes squeezed shut and teeth biting your lip to hold back a cry from the pain that slammed your head. It stabbed into it, each effort to coalesce the different currents driving it deeper into your skull until your vision flashed and the ball burst into violent gusts that rocked the ship.
The floor groaned and creaked. The ninja’s screams and yells were muted under bartering rain and wind. Each attempt to calm or redirect them was interrupted by almost stumbling overboard whenever your eyes shut and your mind blanked.
This was the worst thing you’d ever done. Yes, you suffocated the fire in the monastery but it wasn’t as difficult as this! Blocking a raging storm from reaching a ship would already be difficult, but to block most of it off and let some slip through to move it forward? How were you supposed to do that?! Create a shield that would move with the ship and let a breeze in? Control all the winds to push from behind? Block at least some of it off and let Nya handle the steering?! You couldn’t even do the last rotten thing!
“Brute force will not work! Try emptying your mind—!”
“Shut up! I'm handling it so shut your mouth before I kill you!”
The gale that slammed into the side redirected your glare when the ship suddenly dangerously teetered. It sounded almost like the sails exploded when wind disappeared for a split moment only to fill it again. They slammed open, your eyes squinted through the rain as you focused on righting the ship again until shrill laughs filled your ears.
“By God, they sound demented.” Your groan was interrupted to draw the wind away again. At least Wu was quiet and you could figure this out for yourself. When the ground beneath swayed less, you swept an arm to attempt another redirection. If the ninjas bothered to look back they would see the beginning of a cyclone forming in the sky before it dispersed and knocked the ship forward. Your hair and clothes were stuck to your skin, eyelashes clumped together as you blinked the water away to form another cyclone before ripping it apart when it got too big.
“That does not sound like my students…” Wu suddenly ran off. You could not follow or even glare at him, another ache pounding against your head as you broke the next cyclone and began forming it again.
Finally the ship seemed to stabilize, though you were unsure if you had any hand in it. A heavy breath fell out, arms trembling until a scream suddenly broke your focus. “Wait!” Was that Misako? The ship jerked before the gales picked up and you circled them them up again. “We must not let the Starteeth on board! They devour ships and won't stop until we sink!”
Cole’s scream perked your ears. “Aagh! It bit me!”
Bit him? Starteeth? What were they talking about?
“What are—?!” A shriek tore out of you when something sunk into your leg. You looked down just in time to see something star-shaped clinging on before your focus wavered and the gathered air exploded. The ship jerked and you flew through the air before crashing into the wall, a wince screwing your face while you tore the slimy creature off and tossed it back.
Ugh. You shivered as you stood, about to check your leg until crunching noises shot your head up. More were on the wooden planks, Misako’s words ringing through your head as you drew your sword.
The next few minutes were spent stabbing into the creatures. Like sliding meat off chopsticks with your hand, you did the same with them into the sea before waving your arm. A gust of wind shot back those flying towards you, and you could only imagine how the ninja were doing with their shrieks and screams as you let go of the ship entirely to fall over the edge and scrape the ones clinging to the hull.
They did not do well at all.
No one slept that night. Everyone was in a foul mood as the sun creeped over the ocean’s edge but they remained in the same place: scooping water out with buckets that seemed to be the tiniest known to mankind in this moment. You had half a mind to blame them since the stars had also gotten to the mast—the very one the ninja were all surrounding yesterday—but ultimately said nothing. You were too tired to fight.
“Ah, this is hopeless!” Kai paused to complain loudly at the back of the line leading to a massive hole in the ship’s side. “Now that we have no rudder, we've been drifting aimlessly and we'll never get to the Dark Island.”
“We only know what is foretold will happen,” Misako reminded, suddenly appearing behind Kai with several scrolls worth salvaging. “Not when it will happen.”
A bucket clanging against the floor interrupted. You were about to check who dared pause their work until you saw Zane standing there, wide eyes staring ahead and mouth hung open before suddenly turning away.
“What is it, Zane?” Wu asked quietly.
“I sense something.”
“Is it the Falcon?” Cole questioned. Right, the bird Zane lost contact with mid-voyage.
“Is he alright?”
“No. It's… s—” Zane peered out the hole before suddenly stiffening. “Something else! Brace yourselves!
The hole broke apart into a larger gaping wound that let water mixed with sand slosh in. Everyone stumbled and slid back, but Lloyd was especially unlucky to fall straight on his back. He slid back and knocked your feet right from under you, sending you slamming into another surface for the second time during this trip while Jay burst out laughing. “Ha! Guess someone needs to watch their step—whoa!” Your foot kicking his sent him spiralling down, making Nya laugh before she pulled you up. “Hey, no fair!”
You scoffed, rolling your eyes while Nya only giggled and climbed through the hole onto rocks and sand. You gingerly stepped down after her, the rest following close behind as you rolled your shoulder and studied the island you crashed into.
“Who would build a lighthouse way out here?” Lloyd’s confusion was understandable. The tower was situated not only on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere, but also on rocky mounds that looked troublesome to build on.
“It's not a lighthouse,” Zane corrected while beginning to walk forward. “It's a prison.”
A low growl interrupted the climb up the haphazardly made staircase. You stopped near the top, looking around with everyone else at the sound that reverberated in the air while Jay moaned. “Oh, I should have brought an extra pair of underwear…”
“Mysterious. We better keep going.”
Obviously, but you again decided not to argue with Wu. Several pairs of footsteps touched upon stone steps quietly, and despite their height from the ocean’s level, you still slipped a few times on the way up. Something swivelled above the door Zane approached, your mouth curling in confusion until Jay piped up. “Uh, should we smile?”
He was doing just that next to you. You glanced at him before mimicking the expression at the camera until Nya snorted. The sound made you frown, annoyance suddenly shooting up until the door opened.
Hah. You really needed some sleep.
You were ready to fight whoever showed up, but less so when you couldn’t quell a yawn and it was an old man. “Zane! Is it really you?” And he knew the boy, apparently. “You found me!” The old man left the group trailing after the nindroid to stare perplexed went he walked as fast as his weak legs could and threw his arms around him. You would have thought Zane also didn't recognise him if it wasn't for his frozen form suddenly breaking to support the older man.
“Uh, do you know him?” Lloyd asked.
“Of course I know him!” the old man exclaimed after pulling back and adjusting his glasses. “I built him, for heaven's sake!
“But—my memory tells me that you have passed,” Zane breathed.
“Ah, you found your memory switch.” He didn’t seem at all concerned, only looking down at Zane’s stomach until the strange growl that stopped you before returned again to shake the air. “Hurry, it can't know that you're here, or else there'll be dues to pay!”
Jay gulped. “‘It’?”
“I'll explain everything inside, including why it is that you thought I was dead.”
The rushed steps into the tower were accompanied by a sigh behind you. “Well, the Bounty's sailing days are over,” Nya stated forlornly, stopping just before entering to gaze at the coast where your home was.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” came your reply from inside. “What matters more is how we are to return.” You’d rather not reveal your powers, but even if you did, did you have to carry everyone for that long?
Wu did not care to have the conversation at this moment. “Come, Nya.” The girl nodded, giving the ship one last mournful look before trudging in.
“Locking.” The strange man lifted a board and placed it ahead of the door once he closed it. “Barricading.” Then he moved a stick similar to ones on the game controllers. “Hand checking…” The old man barricaded the door as soon as you were inside with a passion you were not familiar with except in Lou.
“Ha, I think we're safe.” A relieved sigh left him before he went towards Zane. With an arm folded behind himself, he led him towards the staircase with the other behind the nindroid’s back. “This way.” The group followed up the narrow steps until it opened into a large room, one rather empty at the centre with its lone lamp while its sides were cluttered with different machines and blueprints. “Please, please have a seat. You must be thirsty.”
“Seat?” Zane scratched his head with a polite but confused smile. “Where?”
The man pulled a lever behind him. The lone lamp fell through the floor and a table rose to replace it. “There, of course.”
“Oh, that's pretty smart,” Nya quipped.
“A technical wizard,” Cole complimented.
If that wasn’t strange enough, a tiny robot popped out once everyone was seated. It jumped onto the low table while carrying a stack of cups, distributing one to each person before hopping back down. It returned to its maker, who gave it a teapot before journeying back to the table.
Again it hopped on, taking time to go around and pour everyone’s tea one by one. It was so cute, enough that you lifted it once it was done pouring yours. “What is its name?”
“I’m glad you asked, girl.” The stranger laughed as the robot’s head swivelled around. “I call it Tai-D.”
“Hey, I also want some tea.” Jay’s complaint made you lower the robot before thinking better of it. You turned it the way it came, and it travelled back to Nya who giggled when it paused at her already full cup before turning and continuing its proper course towards Jay.
Even though he was the one who complained, he also began to play with it. He slid his cup several times before Tidy could pour until it steeled itself with a determined calculation and continued with its task—but failed on Jay’s pants.
The Lightning Ninja screamed and shot up from the floor while the table broke into laughs. “Don’t bother the robot who pours your tea,” Kai snorted.
“Ha—ha, very funny!”
You yourself were going to continue soaking in the hysterics until your tea dampened the warm ambience. The jokes and laughter faded, leaving with you only your reflection in the dark ripples until Wu spoke. “Is there something wrong, [Name]?”
You avoided an immediate reply while setting the cup on the table. Instead you first looked over at the stranger, whose eyes were already on you before shaking your head. “Nothing important. It doesn’t taste like your tea.”
“Um, sensei’s?”
The question went unanswered as Wu carded his fingers through his beard. “Ah, yes. The blend is vastly different. I can make some more for us later, if you wish.”
“Hey! You never made tea for us!” Cole griped.
“Of course not. This tea is only for [Name] and me. Buy it yourself if you desire it so badly.” You paused, brows raised while Wu faced you again from his spot. “And since we are on the topic: [Name], I must ask you do not share it with them. This is only between us.”
Only between you? Even after all you’ve done to him?
You would have scoffed if the small burst that pushed a giggle past your twitching lips didn't surprise even yourself. It was both pleasant and unpleasant, a warm feeling that curved your mouth against your will as your fingers tightened around the cup's handle. “Alright.” And despite reminding yourself to latch onto the displeasure, it was washed away by the rippling smile of your reflection.
Zane had stood from the table in the midst of the small argument. He lingered by an easel that held familiar blueprints in a manner similar to how Lou kept pictures of his son. “Father, I don't understand,” he said. “I—I saw you pass.”
“Yes, you did. And believe me when I tell you, I thought I was kaput.” He threw his hands up before they dropped and his voice wavered with mirth. “But as you know in Ninjago, the past is the past.”
“And the future…”
“Is the future.” …Were Wu and Misako holding hands? And so blatantly atop the table? You felt you were watching something only privy to them with how they gazed so intently into each other’s eyes—and that seemed to be the case when you looked to Lloyd for an explanation but he was watching Zane’s father.
“Yes. But after I turned off your memory switch, what you didn't see is Bonehead Samukai reviving me with a special elixir in the time it took for you to reboot,” he explained. “He wanted me to create state-of-the-art war machines for their army. He said if I did, then I would be able to see my son again.” His tone was so pitiful that even your heart twinged and your mind moved from the elders, though not without a final glance. “And to make sure I didn't escape, he chained a Leviathan to keep guard.”
“A Leviathan?” Lloyd straightened, eyes widening with alarm. “That's what we heard in the ocean?”
“Yes,” he confirmed before turning to Zane. “When Samukai didn't return, I thought I would never see you again. But as so much time has passed, I…” He shook his head, shoulders slumping as shame crushed his animated method of speech. “Started to question if you would ever want to see me again," he whispered while holding his hands together. "I was afraid if you found out what horrible things I'd created, you would think I was a… a monster.”
Zane could feel something lurch inside where his heart should have been when his father’s head lowered. His hand quickly rested on his shoulder with what he hoped was a comforting hold while he spoke firmly. “We will get you out of here, Father," he assured. "Now that we are together, perhaps we can invent a way off this rock.”
“Could you repair the rocket boosters on our ship?” Jay suddenly interjected, gesturing to the abandoned ship on the shore where he was now standing by the window.
The old man went to stand by him, staring out for a moment before a grin split his face. “That sailing ship has rocket boosters?”
“Well, the rotors and gears are shot...”
“Eh, pish posh! No matter!” The old man batted Nya’s (who had also walked up to them) worries away with eagerly dismissive hands. “I'll have your ship airworthy by dawn!” Very good. You were unwilling to fly everyone back.
But the earth suddenly groaned. The tea in your cup sloshed and spilled over the side onto wood those still around the table held to keep it and the clattering dishes still. “It's an earthquake!” Kai warned.
“No, it's much worse!” Julien corrected in a harsh whisper. “He's here. Everyone hide.” Instantly members began moving. The elders climbed back down to the bottom portion, Nya and Lloyd hid behind a machine in the corner, and Jay climbed atop some shelves above the window.
You couldn’t even think of a hiding spot that wasn’t quickly taken or in plain view until hands suddenly hands lifted you from the floor. You would have yelped if Cole didn't plop you onto your feet, grabbing your arm and hurriedly ushering you with a panicked whisper. “Go! Go!” Like cattle he led you into a corner, one different from Nya’s as Zane joined and slid a cloth over your heads.
Light poked through a crevice in the boxes blocking you from view. They revealed dust that Cole covered his mouth to avoid coughing from while you leaned forward and peeked through the gap to see several eyes peering in. They were inlaid in large, thick tentacles, slit and blinking as water dripped and darkened the floor beneath the windows they slid through. “Aha! If it isn't my old chum!” The tentacle stopped yet strained to peer over his shoulder, and Julien quickly flipped over the tea bowls and tapped on them with chopsticks. “Hehe, just—marching to the beat of my own drum. You know, doing whatever I can to pass the time. Since I'm so, you know—heh, alone.” Jay’s hand squeezed his mouth, his form frozen trembling on the shelf above the creeping tentacles.
Fortunately for him, they did not peer up; perhaps years of checking dulled its diligence. The Leviathan retreated as smoothly as it had intruded, leaving behind a stifling silence no one dared to interrupt until they crept back from their hiding places. “If we're gonna make something and get out of here, we're gonna have to hurry,” Kai said, face set in a grim frown and finger pointing at the ocean. “Before it comes back.”
To fix a ship was no easy feat, and especially not so for an old man. Julien’s body could not move as passionately as his mind, so most of the team was outside helping with transporting blueprints, materials, and tools. Currently they were sewing the sails where stars had bitten through, the sight of them talking while doing so bringing a smile to Zane’s face until a belch disrupted the atmosphere.
“Excuse me, but I must say, I have never had such a meal in all my life!” Zane looked away from the window, the serene and still atmosphere of the room—one disconnected from the urgency of before for peace to soften the air— greeting him until Tai-D lifted his father’s dishes. “Where did you learn to cook? I never programmed that into you.”
“I guess I just… picked it up.” Zane took the dishes, the smaller robot instantly driving away as he put them on the counter. It was a question worth pondering, but perhaps not much; maybe the nindroid had learnt while watching his father cook in his early days, and then the skills were perfected with the family he gained later on.
A family additional to the one he lost, and both he could just as easily lose again.
“Father, if I wanted you to make a change in me…” Zane suddenly began, almost nervously, “would you?”
Julien sat up. “A change?”
“An alteration.”
“Heh, but Zane. You're perfect.” The old man stood up with a grunt, walking forward slowly to close the gap between him and his son that spanned years. “I could never make you any better than you already are.”
“But I see no reason for me to have a memory switch. I happen to like my life and don't want to ever forget you again.” How would he move on if he did? Same as he had before, where he lived in blissful ignorance that still weighed on him. Yes, he was not aware of his father’s “death”, but even after the grief crashed onto him, the tear that slipped out in the seclusion of that false tree poured from happiness—at the missing piece in his life finally being fulfilled, the blocked memories rushing back to their places, knowing his past and his father and thus knowing himself. The tear that flowed from the overwhelming warmth that washed over him was a byproduct of what warmed his body, powered it up and gave him more meaning than any training had.
Without that, he would not feel grief, but… but neither would he know the joy of that love. One that was a different type from what he received from his brothers and team, one that was so strong he became whole with it. If he were to forget it all again, those memories of Julien teaching him how to walk, write, how he cooked…
Zane walked to the window where he saw his team work together on the ship. The sight of them filled his heart, but would they ever have been enough to fill the void his father left behind, even without him knowing? The answer was very clear also laid in the past he was at risk of forgetting, as he did not achieve his True Potential until he remembered.
“Don't worry, my son.” Julien’s whisper was low, blending with the lamp’s warm glow that painted across the sleek gloves on the window sill and the hand on his shoulder. “We will both never forget.” Just like that? No further discussion? Zane turned his head, mouth parted at Julien’s soft, reassuring smile. “I'm glad you found me,” he spoke.
Zane’s arms moved before he could process it. They went around his shoulders, and he worried that the elder might buckle under their weight before tightening his hold gently when it was returned. “I'm glad you made me,” he answered softly.
“We will both never forget.”
The strange girl was back again.
Usually you would ignore her, but you were in too good of a mood to. Your voice drifted easily, sweeping through the other side of the small island where none could bother you. “Four, five, six. Fall like sticks. Seven eight nine—” And that was it. You circled the breeze back, tilting your head back when it fanned across your face with a deep sigh before looking to the side. “Would you happen to know the next part?”
The girl seemed so natural here, as if she belonged despite you having no clue of her identity. She stared out at the ocean, breathing in the scent that wafted to wherever she was as her lips stretched. It was an odd sort of smile, and the way she glanced at you cautiously from the corner of her eyes would have made you more curious if your mind wasn’t already occupied.
“This is only between us.” Were you correct that his love wasn’t from responsibility after all? Is this a change that developed or something that was always there?
Your hands sunk into the sand behind you, the grains’ warmth weighing on your eyelids before they slid shut. You slid down thereafter, chuckling while opening them again to stare at the night sky. Water lapped at your feet, intermittently reaching your knees and making you shiver from the cold until the girl spoke. “Everything feels so much better here.” She stretched before plopping down with a flourish, not at all caring for the wrinkles she may gain in her skirt nor for the sand that could get in. “Doesn’t it make you want to leave?” She leaned in close enough that you would’ve expected her breath against your ear if you were still sitting and not lying on the shore. “Leave everything?”
You didn’t know who she was and she certainly couldn’t hear you, but you still responded despite that. “That is what we’re trying to do.”
She frowned. That smile of hers was replaced by something that looked too much like pity and tilted your head, a small chuckle leaving you at how lovely this girl looked. This was the first you’d seen her frown, yet despite that and the peasant clothes she wore (plain apart from the flower stashed in her sash), her fretful features were still soft enough to blend with the seascape even from the side. “Do you truly think he loves you?”
The lapping water seized you. The chill shot up your spine, freezing the blood on its way as your smile fell and muscles tensed. Grains of sand fell from your clothes when you shot up, mouth parting for a single desperate syllable to stutter out before a hand slapped over it and you turned your head to stare at your lap.
Did you actually think Wu loved you?
Did you enjoy the thought?
Your thundering heart disrupted the peace of the crashing waves. Sudden sickness swirled in your gut, enough for a hand to press down on it until the strange girl stood. Her tiny feet left behind no footprints nor did they dislodge the smallest pebble in her path. “Hey—” Your hand passed through hers. She hobbled her way through the shore, a sight that twisted your lips in concern as you shuffled to your feet and followed her into the sloshing water. “Where are you going?”
She didn’t stop until the level reached your knees. “I will die in a land that’s not mine.” Her voice was hushed, almost speaking to herself as she began to sway. “The dancer’s crossed that precious fine line.” She glanced back over her shoulder, and you followed her gaze to where you were just sitting on the shore only to turn back and see pity screw her face. She sighed, lips pursed before looking down.
It was so odd seeing her shift her feet forward and back without the water responding. Questions poured and invading your mind but you didn’t do anything more than wave your hand. The wind splashed against the water, making it sway in the direction of her feet as she began to step forward once and back. Once and back. Just feeling the waves slosh around her legs, eyes closed to focus on something as you gingerly copied her steps.
And then to the side. Her arm stretched out, and you tilted your head as your limbs followed the familiar movements. “I will die in a land that’s not mine. The dancer’s crossed that precious fine line.” Again she spoke, but her voice came out higher in a melody as you mixed with her in the water.
“The wind does not reach her. The food has not been sweeter.” Was this familiar? It was, so achingly so that the clear water around your clothes changed to dirt. “She cries and pleads, ‘I want to leave!’” Another pair of footsteps stepped into your vision. They were small and wore shoes that you’d never seen yet were more familiar than the ones you wore now. They kicked up dust with each powerful kick and land, moved with your much smaller feet in spins that kept getting faster and faster and—
“But she can’t come nearer!”
The final step came with a sweep of your leg. The gale that erupted left you frozen when it slammed into a wayward bird whose shrieks echoed in the far off sky.
Your foot splashed when it came down. The waves returned in a rush, crashing and whispering around your legs as the world breathed on your cheeks. Tremors ran through your body, breaths plunging into the air like stones in a well until you bit your lip.
Your chest ached. Your hand went to squeeze the cloth over it, the horizon blurring before you blinked and looked around. “Hello?” The girl was gone. The resounding silence amidst a moving world left your echoes to fill it until they faded, left you alone in a vast ocean with no end that made you cover your face and turn away.
Solitude crashed into you and left debris that dirtied the clear waters. They scraped along and lodged into the crevices of your skin, pricking and nudging in until the next crash hit and they jammed deeper. There was no pain with the memory yet it left you with something you feared would never leave. Your heart continued to pound since its intrusion, its pierce leaving holes that blood dripped through with every pump. Before you were merely avoiding working on the ship; now you were glad for the seclusion yet detested its hold all the same.
“Where did you go?” No answer. Why did you expect one? Why were you still looking? No one was there but maybe she'd come back—her, that strange boy, the tea shop's owner, even the voice you heard calling your name once when you were grabbing knives before disappearing forever. Anyone new or old you would welcome them but the ocean remained empty despite the space that stretched to the horizon.
You sucked in a few hurried breaths, stepping forward and about to repeat the movements until a low growl rang out. You didn’t think anything of it at first, merely that it was another of the beast’s many grumbles until Zane and his father ran down the steps. “Everyone aboard! It's coming!” the older man screamed.
The ninja didn’t notice at first, too busy watching and trying to decipher what they were saying from the distance until they turned to see several tentacles already waving in the air. “It's here!” Kai yelled.
“Get us out of here, Nya!”
The ninja boarded the ship just when you ran to where you could see them. They didn’t seem to realise someone was missing since they easily lifted, causing you to click your tongue before the wind swept you off. You’d have to be discreet and sneak on to keep tight hold of your secrets—but a thick tentacle snatched your body and hauled you back. “What—?!”
Sound exploded when you crashed in water before everything muted. You barely gathered air around your hand before being engulfed, dispersing in bubbles that you quickly caught and surrounded your nose and mouth with. You blinked the water out your eyes and shook your head, trying to clear your vision before freezing in front of the monster staring you down.
Its blue glow was too bright in such murky water. You felt your eyes sting before they grew accustomed to the light, but even then the body eclipsed whatever else you may see. You were nothing but a speck of dust compared to it, yet it could see you with the eyes lining each of its many tentacles.
You nearly shrieked when they opened around your body. Slitted eyes peered up at you, your own widening until another tentacle neared your face. The precious breathing air you had dispersed, a weak attack that did nothing before it reformed again around your mouth.
But the tentacle still stopped.
The eyes peering down and around you blinked. You didn’t say anything under the audience's gazes of the audience, the silence of the ocean deafening until the tentacle wrapped around you moved. Your squirms and struggles were useless and so were your attacks of so little air, legs swaying and fists slowly thumping against the tentacle until it let you go.
Why? You had no idea. But the surface was right there—
And then you were being pulled right back down. You tried to push yourself away, legs kicking against weighted walls until the tentacle snatched your flailing body and flung you forward.
‘What is going on?’
You broke apart the air bubble to stop yourself from touching the herd of familiar star-shaped creatures. The air returned for you to breathe while you stared, confused before quickly swatting away one that eagerly floated towards you with snapping teeth.
Was it trying to kill you? When the Leviathan could easily do so itself? Bubbles murmured when you turned your head to look back at the creature. Several of its tentacles breached the surface and you could see the Bounty’s image wavering through the waves and splintered light, but what brought you back were the tentacles reaching out towards you and the chains on them.
‘Is it trapped?’ A beast like that? But it was put here to watch over Zane’s father, and it didn’t crush or eat you.
The starteeth chewing through the planks passed your mind. You turned back to them, furrowing your brows before lifting your hands. The bubble between dissipated into several smaller ones before swirling around the stars. They rushed around and pushed them forward before they had to shoot back for you to suck in.
You couldn’t stay here for long. The ninja would leave soon and it was best you joined them as soon as you could. Swimming would take too long when there was much distance left to cover between you and the creature and using your limited air was risky. What if you choked while it was away? What if your vision or mind failed you midway and you couldn’t retrieve it?
Then what? Leave the leviathan trapped here?
Your hands cradled the bubble around your mouth, hesitating before breaking it into several smaller ones again. Those floating around the Leviathan towards the surface shot towards you to amass between your hands and rush towards the starteeth. They swept past you in a flurry of bubbles towards the Leviathan, and the tentacles weighed by dull chains curled around them to place on different shackles.
You had to be really quick. A small current returned to spin you around. The tiny sandals and rough shoes appeared when you closed your eyes before the bubbles raised your leg and the collected air rushed forward in a torrent that launched the starteeth forward. They floated around the chained monster, making you smile until a flurry of bubbles at the top lifted your gaze.
Zane’s form was wavy through the water before air came back to cover your eyes and improve your vision. You sucked in the breath floating around while he swam down and placed the rest of the starteeth on the chains' bases. They worked quickly and a tentacle nudged him around, his eyes widening upon you waving at the other side of the vast distance before swimming forward.
Being saved by him would help him attach more to you, no? Whatever the case, you were more worried about the short breath you'd taken. Should you have inhaled more bubbles? You couldn’t anymore when Zane had you so intently in his sights even though you could already feel your breath straining inside.
Concerning but he’d save you soon. No matter how much distance he still had to cover.
You moved forward as well. Losing what little air you had now would doom you— you knew this and you couldn’t control the wind in front of him, but a flurry of bubbles still ripped out of your throat before you could stop it.
Your eyes watched them eagerly escape and wane to reveal Zane’s alarmed visage before he swam faster. Your hand flew to your mouth to keep yourself from sucking in water while looking up. So much air was going and once it reached the surface you couldn’t capture it again. You had to take them before they escaped, but you squeezed your eyes shut and clutched the fabric over your chest.
You couldn’t! Not when he was still looking—no matter how much the building pressure threatened to burst! You had to hold on!
Zane’s arm went around you just as the torrent seared your chest. Your fingers clutched his gi as he carried you up, the ocean’s floor blurry and shrinking as light pricked your eyes and coughs spluttered out. They broke your grip each time you tried to seize the bubbles, waves crashing against your ears and overturning your mind until you burst over water.
“It let us go!” Kai’s yell was muted against your coughs. You hacked up the water in your chest, Zane holding you up worriedly while bobbing in the ocean before handing you to the nearest person—Lloyd—to take. He hauled you up just as the ship lifted from where it was being dragged into the water, your feet stumbling once on the deck while those already on regained their balance.
“What happened?”
“Zane released the Leviathan, and now it's letting us go,” Lloyd answered the scientist while you greedily sucked in deep gasps. You couldn’t even stand yourself, staggering when you tried to and resulting in his arm tightening around you in alarm. “Whoa—! Hey, I got you!”
“But where is my son?”
The question was directed at you, whom water still flowed down on in thin streams. You blinked it out of your eyes while the wood darkened under you, confused before erupting into another series of barks and Zane’s voice answered him. “I'm here, Father!”
“Zane!” He rushed forward to receive him from the gunwale with open arms and a hold that was as tight as it could be from an old man. “Zane,” he repeatedly lowly.
“How did you know if you freed it from captivity, it would let us go?”
“Because no one deserves to be held captive. Not even a monster.” His voice was so soft. It made you look up from the floor, still getting your much better breathing under control as he turned and gazed over the ship’s edge. Under the surface a shadow longer than the Bounty swept through, something that would have been ominous if not for the fact he looked past the size and the threat it posed—if he did not think like Zane. “Farewell, creature from the sea. Enjoy your freedom.” The Bounty’s engines burst to life, shifting everyone’s stances before they straightened against the new speed.
“That doesn’t make sense, though.” Kai spoke up with a confused frown and tilted head. “If there were so many starteeth around, why didn’t it get itself freed?”
The question was valid. Zane himself was unsure, shrugging his shoulders and raising his arms uncertainly. “I do not know. I myself can’t think of a reason.” His father warned him that the oceans were infested with the creatures and the others tried to stop him from diving in, so why were there so few there? Why didn’t the Leviathan use them, and why didn’t they eat through the metal already?
The question made Lloyd furrow his brows before they shot up. He looked down to where you were staring after the escaping figure, seemingly entranced by the large, almost serene scene under the sunrise until you spotted him and you turned your head. “What?”
You were also in the water. His sleeve was wet when you stood on your own, and Lloyd just laughed as he spoke something that would only be understood by a select few. “Nothing. I just have a hunch.”
Ninja: "where the hell is mc. get her butt over here and tell her to nail some boards."
Wu, remembering the storm he told her to control and the conversation inside the prison: "do u want to still have boards?"
when i watched the episode for the first time in years i was baffled cuz howww are hungry hungry starfish not already eating through the leviathan's chains. what were they surviving off of all that time? bacteria? did they go on a diet? were they floating around to admire the leviathan?
you guys will also understand the meme better in the future. maybe. hehe.
dude i actually feel like i forgot how to write cuz its been so long since ive edited a chapter for u guys. lmk if anything feels off
⇾ Continue search: Island of Reminders
☕︎ Rest: Masterlist
⇽ Reminisce: The Army that Rises
major changes to morning star, ch8.5-10 entirely rewritten
IMPORTANT: MAJOR CHANGES!
MC IS NO LONGER THE HEIR. The Islamic System does not have heirs for the succession of caliphate.
THERE IS NO TARIQ CLAN. Leadership over an Islamic nation cannot be held by one clan/family (Ex: Saudi Arabia, which is not simply called “Arabia” because it can only be ruled by the Royal family of Saud. No, Saudi Arabia does not follow the Islamic system or law despite what they say and should NOT be taken as an example of it, nor should any other country today be. You’ll see why as the story progresses)
THE HEAD OF THE STATE IS NO LONGER IN CHARGE OF THE CLANHEADS. The reasoning for this will be explained as the story progresses.
Expanding on the last point, MC AND THE ARMY NEVER GO TO AGRICHE AFTER THE MEETING.
To incorporate these changes, !!!CHAPTERS 8.5-10 HAVE BEEN ENTIRELY REWRITTEN!!! and the “Six Clans Meeting” is now called the “Six States Meeting”. Enjoy :D
⇾ Move forward: Planning moves...
☕︎ Pause: Masterlist
⇽ Review: One Should Take Caution Against the Attention of Those Who Hunt Beasts
IMPORTANT: MAJOR CHANGES!
MC IS NO LONGER THE HEIR. The Islamic System does not have heirs for the succession of caliphate.
THERE IS NO TARIQ CLAN. Leadership over an Islamic nation cannot be held by one clan/family (Ex: Saudi Arabia, which is not simply called “Arabia” because it can only be ruled by the Royal family of Saud. No, Saudi Arabia does not follow the Islamic system or law despite what they say and should NOT be taken as an example of it, nor should any other country today be. You’ll see why as the story progresses)
THE HEAD OF THE STATE IS NO LONGER IN CHARGE OF THE CLANHEADS. The reasoning for this will be explained as the story progresses.
Expanding on the last point, MC AND THE ARMY NEVER GO TO AGRICHE AFTER THE MEETING.
To incorporate these changes, !!!CHAPTERS 8.5-10 HAVE BEEN ENTIRELY REWRITTEN!!! and the “Six Clans Meeting” is now called the “Six States Meeting”. Enjoy :D
Because the Pedelians were of the clans closer to the Khilafah State, Roussel and Jeanne arrived very soon. In fact, you were sure one of the carriages you passed over while travelling yesterday was theirs, and you were correct when you spotted their distinct carriage from above again and landed to exchange greetings. They still had some distance to cover before reaching Yggdrasil's palace so you offered to take them the rest of the way before being quickly rejected by a smiling Jeanne. "We're not as young as you," she chuckled while softly holding your hands. It was a shame, but because they must've already been travelling for days, you kept the conversation and moved on to allow them a sooner arrival.
They’d certainly be at Yggdrasil Palace in around an hour or two. The delegates the Vertium Clan usually sent should be the first to arrive based on distance alone, but they had a habit of arriving a little later. The White Head should be arriving around the same time as the Blue, and the Castro and Agriche would—
Would there even be anyone from the Agriche this time…?
Thap-thap was as restless as ever. She freely flew around, seeming almost weightless with the way she coasted above the garden. When you were younger you’d think she was soaring through the skies to make up for your lack of footprints in the sand. You’d even developed a habit of letting it out when you were handling the business you inherited from your mother, taking a break from inspecting clothes or the records to watch its wings spread and carry it through the air. Now you simply watched from the Pedelian’s front yard, the dove even performing a few tricks as you smiled.
Until the most irritating voice disrupted the peace. “Hello, [Name]! What a pleasant morning it is.” Ugh. You closed your eyes, inhaling deeply to calm the blood that was already rushing at the tall man who came to a stop beside you. “I see the Trickster Dove I gifted you is enjoying herself.”
"The Trickster Dove my father gifted, yes," you reiterated again.
His delighted chuckle was your response. His chest shook, eyes crinkling at the edges when they met yours until he nodded respectfully and placed a hand upon his heart . "Whoever you consider as the gifter, I'm merely overjoyed you decided to keep her for so long," he said. "It means that I know you well enough, after all."
A small scoff escaped as you averted your gaze once more. "Whatever you delude yourself with, I suppose."
Even silence failed to harbour peace when with him. The air was coiled with tension, your mind repeatedly veering back to him no matter how you tried to focus it on the bird your sights were on. Even so Orka did nothing, merely watching her with you until he looked down at you again. "So you're here on demon taming business," he remarked. "You don't know how my heart soared when I heard from your own lips that you have heeded my suggestions! Why, I even dare say that it reached higher heights than that of your majestic beast." A large smile spread across his face as he leaned down to match your height better. "Should you require any help, you need only remember the White Demon Tamer you have so closeby."
Exhaustion seeped from you in the form of a deep exhale. The man did not relent despite it, watching you keenly until you finally entertained him with a reply. "It was a misunderstanding," you informed. "There are no beasts to tame, nor have I ever had the intention of doing such or had those expectations placed on me except by you."
"You jest!" Orka's brows shot up as if you just informed him of a species' extinction before a lofty sigh fell from him. “What a shame! How dreadfully short-sighted human beings are, to let such a gem walk by unpolished,” he lamented. “Worry not, I’ll always see you for what you truly can be.” It was certainly a talent to be so tenacious. You shook your head and were about to ignore him once again, eyes trained on your dove until he leaned in and raised his hand to your chin.
His fingers were blocked from even grazing your skin. Thap-thap appeared between the possible contact in a flurry of feathers and an ear-piercing shriek in his face before landing on your shoulder. She must've grown in mere seconds to be much heavier than before, enough that you tilted to the side when you didn’t expect the change before straightening and smiling at Orka. “What a wonderful guard indeed.”
The Hyperion stared down with wide eyes, fingers frozen just ahead until a laugh suddenly broke out. “Of course she is! Aren't you aware I chose her specially for you?” That-thap bristled when he brushed his finger against the plumage under her beak before hopping closer and nipping your cheek. You flinched at the demand and stepped away, but the space between your feet did little to stop Orka. “I racked my mind for a pet that would suit you, and there she was." His fingers stretched out to gesture to her without delay or hesitation. "Elegant, beautiful, soft, yet loyal enough to become a beast when defensive. A diet of only the sweetest things, a sweet temperament, and an admiration for beauty.” And then his hand dropped.
The ornaments on the adorned man clinked. Orka raised the delicate chains around his waist, the ones matching those draped over his shoulders and glinting just the same under the sun when offered. Easily your Thap-thap was taken and you pinched the bridge of your nose when she flew off. “Unfortunately, because of that, it is easily won over when presented the right things.” The Hyperion happily surrendered the chain to her beak, his beautiful smile stretching when you shook your head. “Don’t you admire how observant I am? A partnership between us would be most harmonious and flourishing.”
You should have taken a guard. At least they were still present, making their rounds and preventing him from truly crossing any line. “I’m not partial to men who say that so frivolously,” came your dull reply, your hand falling from your face for your arms to cross.
“My, is this about what I’ve said to the Blue Princess? The partnership I was speaking of then was nothing serious.” Orka dared to pout at you, a man who lived as much as he had while his hand went under the dove desperately flapping her wings and tugging on the chain. She relaxed atop the one whose enmity with her had been erased by mere shining jewels before continuing her ambitious goal and ignoring the plight of her owner. “I wouldn’t have ever joked in such a manner if I knew you’d be so cross with me. You must understand, I wasn’t even aware you could feel jealous over me.”
“Jealous? Ha!” You barked out a laugh, the frown that'd been marring your face since his arrival morphing into a large, amused grin as you walked away to plop down on a bench. “What has happened to you over the years that you would say something so absurd? Perhaps you've become more accustomed with beasts than humans.” You only meant that a man who gave such compliments so easily weren't to be trusted, yet look how he spun your words!
Still Orka remained unperturbed. In fact, the joyous sound that fell from your mouth seemed to stretch his own while he followed. “But I can see that glint of jealousy! While you do not wish to claim me, you detest anyone else by my side. In a way, you still do want me.” This delusional man. You couldn’t stop laughing, covering your mouth and turning your face away to avoid the eruption his visage would cause when he leaned over the bench's back. “It’s true! If you felt such a way, you should have at least responded to my proposal.”
Thap-thap stopped with the chain above his hip when his hold retracted to fold his hands behind himself. Instead she flew up to his head, drawing his gaze for only a moment until he brushed his hair to the side and draped his braid across his shoulder for her to land on. She did so easily, nestling into the section where his braids first folded before picking at the light blue strands.
You would have scolded her for such betrayal if mirth still didn't lace your voice. “Hai Allah. I don’t need any proposal from you. I sell casual clothing, not fancy—and even if I did, such clothing in my culture incorporate neither fur nor feather.” You shook your head and leaned against the armrest, the huff that escaped still wavering with the remnants of your disbelief while your shoulders slowed their shaking and grin calmed. “But there are many who do. If you wish, I can ask if they'd like to partner with you.” There was a problem in identifying who used them, though. You've met and befriended many business owners, enough that discerning the types of clothes and which cultures they hailed from was difficult when they all merged together.
You'd just need to be more aware of fur and feather at the next bazaar you set up in, you supposed, until Orka spoke. “Ah, you’ve misunderstood. I couldn't care less about business. My other family members handle that.” Your smile remained when you returned his gaze once more, though yours was much more confused when he stepped around to stand in front and block view of the luscious Pedelian yard. "I don't have any business of my own. You may also use my beauties at any time, but I truly only have myself to offer to you."
"...You?" Another chuckle left as you furrowed your brows. "I don't want you."
It could've easily been taken as an insult, especially from a man like Orka. You thought it did at first when he only watched for a few seconds until a delighted breath drifted out . "Did I ever tell you how I adore your tongue? It retains its sharpness even against an Heir without even asking if it should."
Instantly your eyes narrowed. You tilted your head, the mirth from before erased easily under his gaze. "It's 'sharp' now to say I don't want a man who keeps pestering me?" you retorted. "Your status as Heir means little; The way I speak with you now is the same if you were clanhead. Does a position of leadership mean that you should be pampered?" Orka turned his face away as you continued, scrunching your brows at the audacity when he was the one to speak so brazenly. “Verily it only means that you have more responsibilities. In fact, people should keep their leaders in check so they don't veer off the correct path, and any system that prevents such a—”
Orka's finger suddenly lifted to mute your tangent. You paused at the digit in front of your face but continued, albeit slower and quieter while leaning to the side to see what he was so intently observing. “A leader that prevents and ignores the people's valid corrections should be removed from his—”
“Shh, shh!” Orka harshly whispered. He still didn’t turn back but you could see his smile was gone, finger still hovering in front as he stared at the yard. Knights were in their positions, some still and others on a path. The trees stood tall and their leaves danced to the sound of their own applause when a breeze passed through them and cooled your skin. Butterflies even roamed between scented flowers and sturdy branches. It was a very peaceful setting, not one that fit his sudden vigilance.
A few seconds passed in which even strands of grass moved more than he. They swayed under the breeze while you waited, even distracted Thap-thap twisting her head in different directions before returning to nestling in his hair. You were about to call her back when it seemed his trance wouldn’t end until he suddenly whirled back around.
“[Name], you wouldn’t believe what happened on my journey here!” Thap-thap chirped when the braid she was resting in swung back to its usual position before sitting on the suddenly rejuvenated man. “While I was in the Frederica Plains, I observed the xylote monsters. Fifteen days I sat there in the frigid snow by the Emerald Lake—not even a fire to warm my body lest they realise my presence." Orka swept his arm as if he could draw from it the vision he had beheld to replace that of the Pedelian's Fortress. "It was a beautiful sight, [Name], one you would have surely loved. So many beautiful beasts gathered in one spot, simply grazing and living their lives.”
He really was dramatic. You tilted your head at the oddity only to stiffen when he suddenly bent forward. “Then, whoosh!” His hand waved in front of you. He was much too close, elegant smile wide and grey eyes gleaming between long fingers before he straightened. “Blood red butterflies descended from the sky!” he announced while gesturing to the morning. “They covered the xylote monsters then left without not a trace! Not fur, not bone—not even a drop of blood!”
Orka left his spot. He ignored the wary frown that followed him around, his head swivelling instead at the atmosphere silent except for the ever-present sounds of nature mixed with shifting armour and weapons. “Only their footprints were proof they ever existed. I admit that I was crestfallen at first. Fifteen days, gone in seconds! All my hard work, shivering in the snow without even the breath of a flame for nothing, until I realised—” Orka stopped behind you. You bristled and were about move until an arm raised at your side and stretched to the garden nearby in front. “Killer butterflies.”
His low mutter in your ear made you cover it, face scrunching in distaste as you stood for some much needed space. “What am I supposed to be seeing?” Still the gardens were peaceful. Still they waved while remaining almost still. What change was there except at the guards who frowned when he intruded in your space?
“This is why you should have honed your tracking skills. Worry not, I will enlighten you.” Orka swerved around your form as if to block any path you could take forward and away. “I admit I intruded in the Pedelian castle territory.” Your mouth fell while he put a hand to his heart and continued. “But it was because I saw them flying in this direction. At first I thought it was the Blue Princess, but she has no desire in keeping such beautiful creatures, nor is she even fit for the task.” He turned his head in a certain direction. “Now I wonder if it was that beautiful woman in the annex building.”
Roxana Agriche. The butterfly that accompanied Dion when he dragged you to your escape—was it called something as vicious as a Killer Butterfly? And there were enough to ‘blot the sky’ and clear a herd of xylote monsters? Was she using one to watch this very moment?
The thought was unnerving before you brushed it off with a shrug. You were in public where anyone could set their sights on you; this was no different except that she did it in a manner unused to you. Rather, the far more worrisome matter was that the White Demon Tamer had his sights set on her.
“A woman who’s a guest and you wish to bother her?” you asked. “And this, too, in her privacy. Don’t make me warn Cassius, Orka.”
“Oh, you’re so harsh to me! Can I not even tell you my theories?” the heir complained when he turned to look at you once more with a petulant pout. “I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing! I was of the notion you believe I’ve grown since we were children, [Name]?”
Was he serious? You raised a brow before releasing a huff of defeat. It was better for your sanity to ignore his question. “I’m not interested in your ‘theories’, so there’s no reason for you to inform me of them.”
“Of course there is. We were meant to be together.”
You should have known better. You shook your head, your features only easing when your hand stretched out. “Thap-thap.” The bird twisted her head from where she held the string of gems wrapped around his shoulder in her mouth before dropping it and flying over. She landed in your palm, pushing your lips up as you brought her closer. “By the way, my beautiful, adorable Thap-thap was taken by your accessories, not you. Even if she gets distracted, she will always return to me.”
Orka shrugged with an amused smile that stretched. “Of course. Just make sure to keep your sights on her, otherwise she may never come back one day.” Your feet stopped mid-turn. You looked back at the heir, but only an innocent smile gazed back as he tilted his head. “Have you changed your mind to spend more time with me?” he lilted.
“…If I ever do that, I doubt it will be for anything other than necessity.”
“As things are now, certainly, but I hope our relationship will develop.” Why were you still here? There was no reasoning with a mind who refused to understand it. You turned around without a reply, petting your Thap-thap and halfheartedly returning his farewell behind you.
Roxana stopped just outside the doors to the Grand Hall. The walls were silent when witnessing her hand rest limply against the wood, saying nothing yet seeming to think much just as the knights around her would when they saw her hesitate. Under her feet were the same polished floors she freely traversed and around were the same knights that intended to tirelessly protect her during her stay, yet she still could not quell her nerves. In her chest was her beating heart, seeming to thrum in a direction she couldn't decipher. Did it want to run away, back to her or Cassius's rooms? Where Sylvia would visit her and no unwelcome eyes would watch? Or was it rushing to walk into the room that it wriggled inside when she didn't move?
But she couldn't mull it over much more when inanimate surfaces were only part of the witnesses here. She pushed the door in front of her open, revealing a grand room lined with weapons and emblems of the Pedelian Army.
Here certainly seemed to fit the aesthetic of a knight more than the rest of the castle. The walls were white and the brown pilasters matched the colour of the vaulted ceiling that seemed to reach for the sky. Light shown in through mosaics of the Clan’s symbols, staining the stone tiles blue with hints of pink and purple that crossed with Sylvia's feet when they stilled. "Lady Roxana—ah!"
Even though she knew the one who just kicked those feet out from under her, Roxana still had to fight back a wince when she crashed to the floor. "Why did you let yourself get distracted midway?! I didn't even push you but look how you fell!" Hands that held onto herself in a dark cell now hastily helped another up in a bright room. Roxana watched you look over Sylvia, worriedly asking her if she was alright before she confirmed her health and turned away.
"Good morning, Lady Roxana!"
"Good morning to you as well, Lady Sylvia."
The Pedelian eagerly crossed the distance between where she'd just been flung down at the centre of the room to the doors by which she stood. Following her was you, a face that seemed so familiar to the one years ago but had matured so much that Roxana's mind was forced to take pause to associate the two to the same person. “Good morning, Lady Roxana. You look so different from the last time I’ve seen you.” The small smile that spoke the very thoughts she had faded once you stopped in front of her. “Have you been well? I heard what happened in the Black Territory.”
“I have. The Pedelians are very hospitable hosts.”
“They are. They do very well in making everyone feel welcome.” You chuckled a little, ease once again returning to your expression as you gestured to the empty floor behind. “We were just sparring. Would you like to join?”
Sylvia interrupted before an answer could leave. “It may be too soon for Lady Roxana, who just got out of bed a few days ago.”
Your brows shot up before you hastily waved the suggestion off. “Oh! Oh, never you mind then. Did you come here looking for Sylvia?” you instead asked. “If so you may have her. She was only showing me how well she could defend herself now"
“Defend herself?”
“I take them so that I can protect myself," the girl explained. "I don’t visit other lands often nor do I have responsibilities like my brother does, but it’s good to know how to protect myself.”
“I see.” Roxana nodded, but found herself speaking just when you faced her to bid your farewell. "May I see?"
"See?" You raised a brow before laughing. "See me throw Sylvia down?"
"[Name]!"
"What?" You turned to the girl with a petulant frown when she called your name as if you had betrayed her. "It wasn't an insult or a comment on your abilities. One who has only seen one side of a paper cannot argue with the one who's seen both." An opponent well-versed in both offence and defence would likely either tie with or overcome her. The only situation where you could see her win is if the opponent didn't know she learnt self-defense, at least not until she became better versed in returning the fight. Indeed, offence was a part of good defence just as the opposite was true.
"But you didn't have to..."
Roxana didn't know why, but the casual manner in which you two spoke felt so foreign that she truly felt how different she was in this moment. You were not tied together by blood nor contract, yet Sylvia's embarrassed frown while you broke into a smile seemed so carefree that it felt a portion of her old life had bled through the death that separated both.
How long has it been since she's reincarnated? Her life in the Agriche Manor was so arduous that she stopped looking back when it meant someone could end her the moment she took her eyes off the future. Even when the Manor burnt down, Roxana couldn't remember it. So long had passed that her memories jumbled and merged together in vague feelings and sights, faces mixing and voices overlapping in indecipherable kaleidoscopes that she could only glimpse at through the smiles directed at her now.
“Lady Roxana, I think you should join me in my self-defence classes when you’ve fully recovered.” Sylvia beamed while holding her hands together. “It's very useful to know how to defend yourself, especially a woman as beautiful as you!”
“Don’t listen to her. She’s trying to have a classmate so that her instructors pay less attention to her,” you interrupted. “It is better to join a class separate from hers.”
Sylvia’s agape mouth pulled a laugh from you once again before she protested. “I’m not! I’m a wonderful student!”
“Did you consider that maybe the instructors said so because you’re the daughter of their Head and sister of their Heir?” you lilted before turning to her. “What do you think, Roxana?” No ‘lady’ attached. The name slipped out so easily you yourself didn’t seem to notice while Sylvia spoke.
“And what difference is there between us, daughter of the Caliphate?”
“One difference is that we don’t have heirs and that I am a normal citizen.”
The sight was so oddly calming as Roxana stood there, a normal conversation between people who had very different lives yet made fun such mundane talks when together. Maybe it was because it was the first normal thing she saw in this abnormal life that Roxana found herself reminiscing on her old one.
The friend who recommended her the novel, the one who she met during her master’s and shared with all her classes. And another friend she'd known earlier, who was unaware of how often her shoulder was used as a headrest since their undergraduate studies. The latter didn't join in furthering her education nor was the first was introduced to the latter until much later, but even so, the two remained in each other’s minds enough that they met whenever their schedules allowed.
“You're better than me. I couldn't handle another two years.” It was supposed to be supportive, but Roxana had only let out a deep groan at the statement. How fake people were. They celebrated getting accepted into a master's program then dreaded the next few years in it. "At least you're done after this, right?"
"Hopefully." The dreadful course selection screen was gone, the laptop instead playing a random show for background noise in her dorm. It was another one about some love triangle, something they could laugh at without paying too much attention to while eating and talking. "Just two more years." The assurance was for herself but pulled out yet another sound of lament as her head fell back against the couch.
Her friend just laughed and ruffled her already messy hair back then. "Two years." Unlike her, she'd be applying to jobs and bearing the weight of dozens (maybe even hundreds) of rejections soon before finally landing one. Until then she was taking a break, ignoring the mix of emotions their graduation had stirred and how confused she felt after on where to go.
What even was the meaning of life anymore. Roxana witnessed several people lose hair and gain eyebags while studying in a renowned university. They dressed haggardly during periods of increased work and studied late into the night despite many needing to commute during exam seasons that never ended without at least one ambulance visit. Students wrecking their future health in hopes of getting accepted into a master’s when they realised there was little they could do with their degree.
Then it would somehow get even worse after graduating. Applying to jobs, getting sick of the rejection emails and wondering why they needed to send them in the first place, debating if you really wanted a minimum wage job that'd abuse you.
And then you do that job day in, day out. Over and over until you get another one or advance your career, then do that one, work, work, work, pay bills on a house you’ll never actually own (if you’re lucky to get one), worry about money and if the future really would get better when it just seems to be getting worse, wondering how people had families when you couldn’t fathom being able to pay for them all, all until you died. A never ending loop of life where she never actually lived.
"Shit, maybe I should just drop out."
The laugh that burst next to her seemed so delighted that Roxana could still feel it intrude in her dread. "Go ahead. See what happens." At least there were still lights that broke through the murky darkness. Already she felt better despite sitting in the dorm she'd certainly feel trapped in in a mere few weeks, as if merely having a friend next to her could turn something so heavy into a good time.
And it did. It was made clear in her undergrad. Sorrow that becomes shared always cleared enough space for smiles in the moment, or formed memories that trailed behind and made her forget the weight of the stress when the focus was each other.
Her life was dreadfully boring compared to this one yet held much more warmth despite all the wonders of this fantasy world that had come real. Such normalcy, the dreadful dull of everyday life and she thought would come into the future, the happiness she sought in stories, the friends who made it all seem okay, the ones who joked through the most difficult exams under the most irritating professors.
But then she died and more found her heart wrenching to go back. A peace lost, peace she could only dwell on when her mind finally recognised it in front of people who clearly found companionship in each other after years stuck in Roxana Agriche’s body.
“Oh, relax, I'm sure Lady Roxana knows I'm merely joking. How could you be anything but wonderful in what you set your mind to?" Sylvia crossed her arms in faux irritation as you faced the Agriche. "Don't you agree? Sylvia looks up to you so much she'd love to hear your opinion."
“You should be careful around Orka.” Just like that the smiles reflecting her past fell. “He's not as innocent as he pretends to be.”
Do you know who you've caught the attention of? Does your friend know? Of the terrible deeds done to her in the novel, of the harm caused to both her body and mind by the very man who lurked around the Pedelian Estate and clung to you like a parasite? Surely not, because the worry that looked back at her would not be so little.
For a moment, Roxana thought you understood the nature of her warning until the crease on your forehead faded. “I know, Orka's not sincere in his interest. Did you see how easily he pandered to you then stopped suddenly?” Sylvia grimaced at the memory brought by your question despite in the safety of her home and company of knights and companions. "He just enjoys anything amusing. I don’t take it seriously."
The surprise on her face gave away to disappointment. “I see.” How severely miscontrued you were. Then again, a normal mind could not conjure up the terror he wrought with a psychopathic mind when he acted so polite in front of others.
But she’d let you continue to live under that blissful ignorance. There was no way to explain to you of how her warning didn't spread to mere disillusions of interest but also of safety—but the fact that Orka wanted something from you, even if you thought it was only amusement, already made you plenty guarded. Sylvia would be spared his interest when you remained in this world and she held no ties to any demonic beasts and certainly not to the Killer Butterflies he so coveted. As long as you either stayed home or wary of him, you'd be fine.
You visited the Pedelians again today because yesterday was too short with Sylvia and to possibly see how Roxana was faring. Now that both desires were achieved, you lost yourself in thought while Thap-thap grew to the height of the trees and soldiers watched with wide eyes from their stations.
“You’re truly leaving without taming your best.”
You flinched when snapped out of your stupor before facing the new arrival tiredly. “There are several things wrong with that sentence. Stop it, Blue Heir.” Cassius just huffed as your Thap-thap preened her wing in wait when you remained on the stone path. “I have some things to do back home, so I'd rather return when there's still daytime left," you explained. "I should’ve specified that I wouldn’t visit for the duration of Orka’s stay, but I'll pray for your dealings with him," you laughed.
"We'll need much of that." Cassius smiled before speaking once more just when you were about to turn away. "If I may ask, what were you pondering so intently?"
"Ah, well..." The Blue Heir waited when you glanced up at your dove before raising your arms. "I was thinking of Lante Agriche," you admitted when she lowered her head for them to wrap around. "We believe that Allah is One. He has no partners, no children, and has knowledge of everything. Everything that is halal and haram is for a reason because He's the sole sovereignty and knows what is best for mankind. Because of this, a Khalifah does not work as clanheads or any leaders do." Cassius watched patiently as you lost yourself in thought once more, hands running over the feathers of the bird's head that was now the size of a house but still nuzzled into you. "Their duty and contract with the people is that we will obey him as long as he implements only Allah's law, the Shari'ah. They can't come up with whatever laws they want nor can they implement it if powerful people support them; if it goes against the Shari'ah, we advise him, and he's taken to court where he will be removed from the position if he doesn't listen."
"Yes, I know."
"Exactly. So what was the point of Lante's actions?" you questioned with a glance at him until Thap-thap's coo brought you back. "Assassinating a Khalifah brings no difference when the next also upholds Allah's laws and will be removed from the position if he doesn’t. Targetting his child doesn’t make sense because the role is given to one who's elected and not through blood,” you explained. “And the assassination was for my mother, who didn’t hold any political position just for being the Khalifah’s wife." Why? For what reason?
Cassius hummed while his hand raised to also pet Thap-thap's head. "What are you thinking then?"
"I'm not sure myself,” came your low mutter. “Was it political or personal? A mix of both?" A soft sigh escaped into the serene air. "It's so utterly confusing that I cannot leave the thought."
Silence ensued. Only the wind graced you with the sounds it ellicited from the surrounding scenery, pulling your gaze to the trees until a sudden weight on your head forced it down. "I would've asked Lante if I'd known you had these questions. Regrettably, dead men tell no tales." Cassius chuckled when Thap-thap kept you tucked under her head, the dove seeming to recognise the confusion that displaced your heart enough that she tried to cradle you with it.
Her body was so heavy that you couldn't escape. You stopped struggling under the weight to merely slump against her, a frown pulling at your lips until they pulled up. "So, the Pedelian Heir waged war against the Black Master." Your laugh still came out clear through the forest of feathers atop your head. "How harshly will your father scold you once he returns from the emergency meeting you caused?"
"He's already had a discussion with me. He gave his blessing for me to do whatever I wish with my life." The memory of that conversation the day he returned brought a smile that seemed too soft for one who always looked passive. "Kidnapping the future Blue Master is an act of war in itself, so I doubt any from the other clans will be able to push the blame onto me, especially when what I've done is nothing different than plucking a thorn from their sides." And even if they tried, Cassius didn't care.
But he did care for the tilt of your head when Thap-thap raised her head. "Whatever you want?" you repeated.
Cassius stared for a moment, trying to derive from your expression what so clearly caused unsureness before he clarified, "With my life, not those within or under the Blue Clan."
"Ah, of course. I apologise." The sheepish smile on your face remained as you stepped towards where the dove’s large wing stretched out. "It's just that the system your and other clans operate under depend on a good, intelligent heir to be born into your families, especially when a corrupt leader can’t be removed. No one doubts your intelligence, but..." You paused briefly after climbing up, patting your spot before staring down from your height. "You're a good man, Cassius,” you suddenly said. “At least I think so."
"You do?" Cassius raised a brow from where he stood while you shrugged. "Should I remind you of the man I killed?"
"The man you killed in war?" you clarified. "It would be different if you tortured him or he surrendered and you continued, but if you didn’t kill him, he would have killed you."
The word 'tortured' rang in his head before he quietened it. Yes, Cassius didn't care for what others thought of him, but he couldn't bring himself to confess to you what had truly happened in that dark hallway, beside a wrecked wall and on blood-stained carpets barely illuminated by the glow of still lit candles. Maybe he wasn't a good man like you thought he was, but he'd still lead his clan one day with the utmost justice and fairness he could deliver. But right now, in front of you, who he'd grown up with and aided him in such a shameful period of his life...
You didn't need to know.
"I suppose."
How trusting the Tariq daughter was, how lightly the warnings surrounding those she trusted were on her shoulders. How easy they fell off while she assured someone who tortured a man in revenge. How different she was from Cassius and the righteous Tariqs were from the righteous Pedelians—with certainty in how to act while he struggled with his family's definition of righteousness, with a leader who abided by guidelines and would be removed if he refused while Cassius mulled over what was “good” when different conclusions clashed.
And while you were aware of the last point, he'd let you remain unaware to the others. "Let me know when Lady Roxana completely recovers if she stays in the Blue Territory. I'd love to see her again—and I plan to meet with your sister again, anyways." Cassius nodded while Thap-thap stretched her wings and you waved. "Goodbye, Cassius. May your family be well."
"Yours as well, [Name]." He stood despite the gust that flung strands of his hair into his eyes. Cassius squinted against them before raising his hand to block the sun while watching the beast turn in the direction of your home. He stood there for a while more to confirm she reached the forest to coast over before looking away and walking back inside.
Ignorance was bliss. In this case, for both you and him.
Thap-thap rested as soon as she returned. You left her perched in her cage in your room, the sweet bird who helped you much the past two days lying belly down while you carefully shut the door.
Salwa would be staying in the palace with you for as long as you remained in Yggdrasil. You would have loved for Layla to as well but she was busy at home, though she did mention she’d be free to stay over starting today. It worked out anyways, since you had business outside and markets that you haven’t roamed in so long.
None of the excitement you felt years ago returned. Maybe it was because love dims when one forgets the beauty of the subject, so you instead reminded yourself that you were happy while roaming the markets years ago to stop your delaying and push yourself out of bed.
Already there were servants bustling and carrying different suitcases and bags. That probably meant the Red Castros just arrived, though you wondered why they brought along so many things when it was an emergency meeting. Did they plan to stay longer than necessary for other matters? Regardless, you may as well greet Badrisha and Luzark on your way out.
Yet the carriage that you spotted through open doors wasn’t a burning red. The colour didn’t sour up at all except in the rubies between two skeletons. The carriage’s black exterior made you falter before hurriedly rushing outside and down the steps amidst servants.
Black Agriche? The Agriche were here? You held no ill will towards the children under such an oppressive rule, all except for the one who was most likely to be the heir and now taken up the mantle.
You previously thought that the internal power struggle would leave the marionette on top until you saw Roxana recuperating at the Pedelian’s. The Blue Clan didn’t take over the Black Territory and their carriage was here so a new leader had already come into power, and that, too, someone you wished to never see again!
Already you had to cross paths with him?! You refused! You leaned to the side to check that Dion wasn’t standing there, his absence making you step forward without a thought but with a rushed gait. God, you ought to leave now without interacting with—
“Jeremy Agriche?”
Blue eyes whipped towards you. Jeremy’s brows furrowed even more when they landed, his mouth falling open the same yours did before he forced them into a smile so brittle it could shatter from a light tap. “It’s good to see you are well, princess—as the new Black Master.”
Mc: why would I think ur unjust. It’s not like u tortured Lante for fun or killed him out of anything but necessity. It was war
cassius: teehee.
U know when u see a word so much that it starts to become unreal. That was me with Cassius’s name bc it’s apparently not spelled as cassis and I had to go back and fix them all. Now I’m questioning which form is the correct spelling for other names bc I genuinely don’t know. DOES IT LOOK LIKE I KNOW THE CORRECT SPELLING OF WHITE NAMES. I BARELY COME ACROSS THEM. I THOUGHT ALL SPELLINGS WERE CORRECT. ITS LIKE FRENCH ADDING EXTRA LETTERS TO WORDS BUT THATS HOW U SPELL BOULANGERIE
9. One Should Take Caution Against the Attention of Those Who Hunt Beasts
Summary: visiting sylvia
6,473 words
⇾ Move forward: My hands pray more because they cannot hold her.
☕︎ Pause: Masterlist
⇽ Review: Slow prey are pitiful. Those that freeze die anyways, so run.
The important task Cassius rushed ahead to complete disrupted the other leaders' peace—those who cared, at least. Lante Agriche's death and the downfall of his clan froze you when you met with your father in the morning a few days later. He was seated on a low couch in the backyard, the peacefulness of the whispering fountain and singing birds at odds with the news. He shared the same shock despite being the one to tell you, enough that he didn't even acknowledge the falcon on your arm to stare at the report before sighing and sitting back. "Death comes to everyone."
You wondered how the children felt, for someone who loomed over them and terrorised them such that the torture seemed never-ending to finally die. And that, too, their own father.
Nevertheless, your company with your friends today had to be interrupted. Why?
“I require and would greatly appreciate [Name] Tariq’s efforts in subduing a beast. It is not harmful, but it is one she is familiar with and should calm down once meeting her again. I will personally ensure any risk is impossible, even though it would not dare attack her.”
The falcon from the Pedelian remained perched on your arm while your father read the note, cocking its head and stretching its wings out with bristling feathers when you scratched under its plumage. You never responded to Cassius’s notes before since they were rather unimportant (and you feared either of you being discovered), but this one seemed comparatively important. Unfortunately, Cassius would just have to make do—
“The clanheads have called for an emergency meeting to discuss what happened in the Black Territory. Remember to take the trading route to the Blue Territory, since it’s guarded and protected.” Your father was already penning another note as he remained unaware of your surprise. “Return by maghrib.”
Strange.
But it happened. You attached the note to the falcon's leg when he handed it over before raising your arms and letting it flap away. Its thick wings soared through the sky, screech echoing through the air as you said salam to your father before walking inside to reach a different backyard.
"Thap-thap!" An excited chirp echoed in the greenhouse before a flurry of flaps descended. The elegant and pristine feathers that batted at your face were nothing but a facade when talons grappled with the jewellery on your wrists, your hands covering your head in surprise before you sighed and slipped a bangle off. The silver bands with flowers of the same colour between them, holding blue centres, glinted in the blinding sunlight as the bird finally relaxed enough to sit on your shoulder and let it hang from her beak. "You must be the most spoiled Trickster Dove of all." Her loud coos reverberated in your ear, causing you to tilt your head away while walking out.
No one except state officials had been visiting since the gathering a few days ago, so there was ample space for the creature once you tugged the bangle out her beak and fed her some berries from a nearby tree. The juices stained your palm a deep red despite the brief contact, the taste still strong when you licked it off while watching the bird fly down and tuck her wings close to her body.
Her beady eyes remained intent on you as she grew, head cocking and chest feathers bristling until she covered your form in shadows and towered over the trees. Her wings nearly blinded you when they fanned out and reflected the light of the sun, making you wince a bit before securing your bag and climbing on.
The Pedelian knights were about to open the gates for you before thinking better of it and letting you merely fly over. A space was hurriedly cleared for you to land in the front yard, small gusts from Thap-thap’s wings sending grass and leaves into a dance while you remained seated. You easily surrendered your bag with the invitation inside to the guard that came forth, though it was more of a formality when they knew you’d be arriving.
“[Name]!”
“Oh, Sylvia! Hi!” To think you’d see her so soon! You waved from your spot to the girl approaching with her brother before lowering your hand to the woman in armour who came forth. You averted to keep track of your grip on Thap-thap’s plumage as you steadily slid onto her wing, but the careful grip you’d been expecting was far too different from the hold that snatched and yanked you down.
“[Name]! How wonderful it is to see you!” Orka beamed down at you, far more mature than the last time you’d seen him and infinitely more preposterous when he kept his grip on your wrist. His light blue had grown such that his braid waved behind his back, the same breeze swaying the jewels dangling from his ears and decorating his arms. They glinted as the other ornaments that adorned him did, but none could compare to how his grey eyes shone to a near silver as the arm he used to catch you remained around your form. “And here I’ve been mourning that I may never see you again—”
“Ugh!” You shoved him off without ceremony. Instantly your hands flew up to straighten your clothes, brushing his touch away as well while the knight from earlier awkwardly returned your bag.
Their tension made sense; What were they supposed to do between two important figures visiting? You had no political power but were still the Khalifah’s daughter and Cassius’s guest, and Orka was to one day become head of the Hyperion Clan. Alas, the White Heir himself but didn’t seem insulted at all by your actions. “Oh, yes, I’ve forgotten: men cannot touch you, can they? I was simply so ecstatic to finally see you that it slipped my mind.”
He stepped forward until Thap-thap’s head butted in. Her rings raised above her back as she shrieked in his face, his blue strands waving in the air and eyes closing against the warning before opening them when it ended. “I see you’ve even kept my gift!”
“This was a gift from my father,” you retorted, face screwed up by a scowl as your arms came around the bird’s head. She nudged herself closer, her heavy body forcing you to step back a little despite your bravado until she shrunk and flapped onto your head.
Thap-thap had always been your strange little dove. You let her settle in her spot, lying belly down with her wings draped on either side of your head before you raised your hand to pet her while walking. “Ah, your father. I hope he’s been doing well.” Orka’s smile was as large as ever as he followed after you to the two Pedelians watching with very displeased expressions. “But I was the one to actually—”
“White Heir, I advise you to leave my guest alone.” The smile morphed into a pout. Orka opened his mouth to defend himself, but you ignored it to run into Sylvia’s outstretched arms.
“Oh, it’s been so long!” Her giggles danced in the wind as she seized you and tilted side to side. It was only a few days apart but the Blue Princess was clearly thinking of something else as she pulled back to grin at you. “I've been waiting for you to visit! We have so much to catch up on!”
“Ah, so she’s been ignoring you as well.” That same infuriating voice intruded in your conversation. Your smile dropped, your hold on Sylvia's hands tightening as he continued. “Then it wasn’t only me. That’s a relief, but I think I also deserve a warm greeting—”
“[Name], I hope your trip here wasn’t difficult.” Cassius interrupted him once again to look down at where you stood in front of his sister with a smile. “We appreciate you coming so quickly.”
“Of course, but I don’t think my presence is needed much anymore.” Loathsome as he was, Orka was still Orka. “The White Demon Tamer can help you with the beast much better than I can.”
Orka perked up, eyes widening before he straightened with a grin and a hand that flew to his chest. “Of course! Any assistance you need with a Demonic Monster of any type and rank, I would gladly provide!”
Sylvia pursed her lips at the man as if he had just spouted the strangest thing while her brother remained stoic next to her. “Thank you, but we need only [Name]’s help.”
“Is that so?” Ugh, he truly was dreadful. The sly smirk on his face was soon turned to you with that familiar glint in his eyes, and you suddenly felt like you were children again when the glower that returned his gaze did nothing to dampen his spirit. Cassius led you into the building thereafter while keeping conversation with the White Heir, preventing any intrusion into your conversation with Sylvia and your frustration from building further.
You thought you'd be shown the beast they needed help with immediately for you to be called based off a notion as vague as "familiarity" for taming such a creature. Why, then, were you seated at the table for a feast so soon?
Maybe it was contained and they wanted to feed their guest first. Even so, why were you seated across from Orka?
“Goodness, I had no idea such a beautiful person existed in your clan! Had I known such a destiny awaited me, I would have been much more observant of the clan gatherings.”
“‘Destiny’? I wouldn’t call it anything like that.”
“Then, my lady, think of it this way. You are a gorgeous flower, and I am a beautiful butterfly. I am confident such a pairing would only lead to a most harmonious relationship. Don’t you agree?” What was he saying now? Even his cousin next to him had her mouth agape. “Or if you wish, I can take on the role of the flower and you may serve as the butterfly, as I am indeed as radiant as any flower. Speaking of which, do you like butterflies, Lady Sylvia?”
“I’m going to be sick.” Nausea already weighed in your gut. His words weren’t directed at you (and pity for the sweet girl whom it was), but hearing them alone allowed them enough power to swirl the heavy warmth around until it threatened to breach your throat.
Your low mutter was unheard by the Blue Heir at the head of the table, but he spoke with thoughts certainly similar to yours. “White Demon Tamer, if you continue to make such base remarks toward my sister, I may just have you sent back to the dungeons.”
He was thrown in the dungeon? You paused mid-bite until the surprise quickly crumbled like sand caught by lapping waves of the shore. Being flung into the dungeons seemed to fit him.
“Oh! Please do forgive me. You know, I’m actually quite shy, so I have a tendency to run off at the mouth whenever I’m nervous. If what I said caused you any discomfort, Lady Sylvia, please accept my humblest of apologies.”
There went your appetite. Your spoon rested against your plate with a clink louder than you wished for it to release while slowing chewing the rice. Sylvia, however, was faring seemingly much better than you with a cold reply. “And another thing. As I never agreed to you addressing me by my name, please refrain from doing so. You may refer to me as Lady Pedelian.”
“Ahaha! But of course. However, please just call me Orka, my lady.”
The conversation went to less taxing topics thereafter. While you were a guest you still did not wish to speak with the White Heir, so you settled with conversing only with the three others present. It became easier as time went on, not because of practice, but because he spoke less and less.
How strange. How odd. When was the last time Orka was in your vicinity without blabbing until your ear yearned to tear and run off? You did feel poor for the sweet girl who was at the end of his verbal affections only minutes ago, but that meant that he lost interest in you, had he not? The thought of him whiling his time away and spinning tales for other women instead of you brought you relief, one that relaxed the tension in your limbs the longer you ate and spoke in peace until a grating voice shredded it entirely.
“Ah, the gardens of the Yggdrasil palace are wondrous,” he added into the conversation of nations' sightseeing spots. “I still remember the night I first explored the different areas as a small child. The moon was high, mosaics and decorations blinking like stars. The most delightful breeze was blowing through until a small girl entered and dragged me off." Orka placed a hand atop his heart when a wistful sigh wafted from his chest. "The offer I stretched to Lady Pedelian was professional only—Her lovely demeanour would calm many Cursed Beasts. Alas, [Name] remains the one who has completely taken my heart since that fateful night.”
The stares suddenly swivelling over almost made you shrink into yourself. Instead your lips pushed into a sarcastic smile you did not bother to disguise while your fist clenched around the spoon. “No.”
“She’s shy, too. Why, she’s yet to admit that we’d make an excellent pair—even that she has an innate talent for beast taming!” The shake of your head was ignored when he turned to Cassius. “Blue Heir, you see it too, do you not?!”
“I don’t think it’s enough to catch your interest.”
‘Thank you.’
“Why, you flatter me, Blue Heir. My skills are remarkable, but she is a natural at tracking. No matter where I may be she always finds me," Orka quickly clarified instead of preening at the praise. “I would have thought it was because we're soulmates—" Your distasteful frown spread to Sylvia. "But it is the case for everyone. She could have been great if she only honed that skill. Instead she’s been confined to her home, ignoring my letters while I dream of going on expeditions together.”
A scoff of disbelief left you through lips that twitched up. “First of all, I wasn’t confined—”
“Like a frail bird. She’s been in her cage for too long that she never learnt how to spread her beautiful wings and soar.”
“I was not confined,” you reiterated through a frown. “Cassius and I both disappeared from the public eye and I still went out whenever I wished, yet I know you wouldn't use such a term certainly for him.” Orka's smile and appeasing nods made you struggle against a glare when he looked so much like he was merely entertaining nonsensical words. "It’s unreasonable to insinuate such with me, especially when many outside of my home consider me a victim of something that doesn’t exist based on untrue beliefs—not that you hold them. I’m just speaking on something I noticed and dislike."
His serene expression fell instantly with scrunched brows and pouting lips. “Oh, don’t be too angry, [Name]. I’m just worried for you." What? Did you sound upset? But you just explained the truth—you even excluded him from the people you spoke of so he didn’t feel embarrassed in front of everyone! "It’s been so long since I’ve seen my other half that I cannot help but to worry how irritable you’ve gotten.”
“Other half—?”
“But you’ve always been easy to anger. I still remember the day your complaints reached the sky and you called me a dog’s tail.”
Your teeth grit together, your face dropping to your hands as Sylvia glanced at you worriedly. “Dog’s tail?” Cassius questioned.
Orka’s brows raised. “Oh, you don’t know?” His head tilted quizzically, earrings twinkling under the chandeliers before swaying when he straightened in his seat. “They have a saying that no matter how much you try to straighten a dog’s tail, it will always remain curved. I was as perplexed as you are now until I learned the meaning.” Look how innocently he acted. And to think he continued despite his cousin’s clear anguish right next to him when she called his name.
“I was eight,” you reminded. “It was over a decade ago. We were children!”
“But I haven’t seen you change your attitude towards me since then, so I can’t help but to worry you haven’t changed your perception of me either.”
That pitiful expression he sent your way nearly sent you out of your chair. Instead you decided not to dignify him with the reply he so wanted to continue eating. The warm smell of rice wafted to your nose when you finally chewed on it, closing your eyes to momentarily erase all that was around you until a loud slam made you flinch. “You haven’t?!”
“Orka, calm yourself!” The man had shot out of his seat as if you insulted his entire existence along with his family’s. His hands lifted from where they pressed against the table in his rush, the man looking almost comically dejected when Pandora yanked him back down. One may even see the shadows that weighed on his shoulders for them to slump so.
“…I wouldn’t call you that now.” And you wouldn’t, for you avoided insulting anyone.
But your words still did the trick. “Truly? Oh, how wonderful!” You ignored him to continue eating, though the next words he spouted made you close your eyes to hold yourself back from sighing or upright leaving. “So that means I’ve become something more in your view!”
This infuriating, annoying, dog’s tai—
“Something more?” Sylvia repeated incredulously, seemingly offended on your behalf before her brother chimed in. “I don’t see any noticeable change. Maybe he means from a dog’s tail to an entire… Ah, no, my apologies. That must not be it.”
Silence suffocated the table. Your mouth fell open as Orka stiffened, his fingers tightened around his utensil as the siblings shared small smiles. Pandora met your worried gaze with one of her own before glancing at him warily. His frozen smile eased, perhaps because the silence was stretching long enough that the others may soon raise their heads at his nonexistent reply. “Of course it isn’t. I believe we’re much—oh!” And the hush dispersed when the White Heir suddenly bent over and clutched his gut.
The Pedelians’ smiles dropped when he groaned. “Argh! My stomach…” Orka rubbed the offending spot with deep wince. “Perhaps since I’ve grown accustomed to eating nothing but wild plants during my travels, my stomach is having trouble digesting all this hearty food.”
“I’ll go call the doctor—“
“Oh, you’re so kind, but no.” Orka stopped you with a raised hand when you stood from your seat. “As I’ve said, it’s only a matter of digestion. Perhaps gazing upon your face will—Agh! It’s as if… nature’s call is ringing through my bow—!”
“That’s enough of your revolting ramblings! Just go if you need to!” Pandora hissed. Orka didn’t wait for her to even finish before he was bolting out of the room while excusing himself. A few guards separated from the others to go after him. You were left standing for a few more seconds, staring at their exit before deciding maybe the doctor wasn’t needed after all and sitting once more.
“The Hyperions seem to be rather… carefree in their customs,” Sylvia spoke.
“No… just Orka. He’s odd even by our standards.”
“He’s someone who spends much of his time taming demons. Anyone who does the same might struggle after enduring such a long period of solitude,” you said. “Let’s speak of something else.”
Pandora stared at your quick defense before nodding awkwardly. Yes, she supposed it made sense that you’d wish to forgo any talk of him… though defending him still wasn’t necessary for that. Whatever the case, the Hyperion couldn’t just allow for the topic to drop. “Please accept my sincere apology for Orka and his impertinent behavior. He’s always in search of some new demon monster habitat as Lady Tariq mentioned, so I suspect he’s become so used to living in the wild that it’s even affected his behavior in a strange way.” How humiliating! Why did she have to apologize while he wreaked whatever havoc he wanted?!
Alas, Pandora still bowed her head towards the others with a regretful frown. “I personally feel deeply responsible for the breach of your fortress wall. As I am not the most skillful of demon tamers, I had requested his assistance in my research of certain habitats nearby when we accidentally flew over your compound. We should have applied for your approval beforehand, even regarding the initial research plan, but we were in such a hurry, so… I also apologize for my own carelessness contributing to the confusion, as well as for the remarks made against Lady Pedelian and Tariq.”
“What the White Heir does is his, and what you do is yours,” came your quick assurance. “I never expected an apology nor did I blame you for a moment. Don’t worry.”
“We Pedelians are also well aware of the White Demon Tamer’s… unique reputation.” Cassius didn’t care much. The complaints she expected about the disrespect never came when he didn’t even look at her while finishing his plate. “Please don’t feel pressured to explain any further or make any more excuses on his behalf since the official statement from the Hyperion leader has already settled the matter.”
The words should’ve been kind but they sounded anything but. Instead they were delivered with the same apathy she repeatedly saw in several leaders, and although it was impossible that he wouldn’t keep an eye on her when they were guests who made their entrance by breaking in, Pandora merely felt grateful she wouldn’t be associated with her cousin’s antics. “Then I thank you for your kind words.” Cassius stared at her. Blue eyes that were so still gazed at her for only a brief moment before he pushed aside his plate.
Pandora found the colour captivating even as he asked the servants to bring dessert and they began taking their dishes. It nearly stunned her with how alluring the colour was when paired with a man who was cold yet remained respectful. ‘The Blue Heir has certainly developed into quite the man.’ The fragile boy who spoke softly with a peaceful smile had shaped into someone more manly, demeanour and appearance-wise. Luzark was also serious, but he was of a strict type. Cassius was more akin to a still lake that remained undisturbed no matter the events that unfolded around him.
It didn’t help that Luzark was so stiff no matter what she did. Her family didn’t ask nor expect her to get married any time soon when they were all so engrossed in their demon hunting, but the world didn’t wait like them. Good and attractive men would be taken like meat in front of wolves, and while she could stay unmarried for as long as she lived, she wanted one as well!
‘Perhaps I shall try to ensnare him while I’m here.’
“No, no! I liked it! It was delicious!” You quickly assured the siblings when their keen, piercing eyes remained intent on you. “I was just surprised that you made one of my home's dishes? Again, very delicious, but I was expecting your tastes.”
“We wanted to replicate your food as our guest!” Sylvia beamed once she found the true reason you paused at the beginning of the meal, her hand coming up to delicately cover her laugh as if her gaze wasn’t just freezing your blood. “It’s been so long since you’ve visited. I was nervous how you’d receive it, but it’s a relief that it was to your liking.”
“Don’t worry, the dessert is from our dishes.” Cassius smiled a little from his seat where he watched his sister shine so brightly next to you. “We expect you to bring sweets next time you visit, however.”
“Ah. That’s what I was forgetting.” All that brain-wracking while checking your bag at home failed to procure that you should bring a gift when visiting.
You covered your face, head lowering in exaggerated shame before Sylvia tugged your wrists away. “Not yet, I was still admiring!” Her lips stretched at the laughs clearly suppressed into quiet giggles in front of formal company you shouldn’t even be playing in front of. The princess let go of your hands and placed her own in her lap, straightening her back and attempting to calm the curve of her lips until what she saw effortlessly shrank it into near disappearance.
Sylvia continued to stare ahead for a few seconds. She studied the scene, confirming her suspicions before finally opening her mouth. “Is there something on my brother’s face?” The Hyperion snapped out of her languor. “Or is something else the matter? I only ask since you appeared to be glaring at him…”
“Oh! It’s nothing. I was just daydreaming.”
“Ah, was that all?” Pandora’s awkward smile greatly clashed with Sylvia’s soft one. “It occurred to me during supper that you Hyperions must have a very strong sense of living by your own rules. For instance, while listening to the White Demon Tamer speak earlier, I felt as if I was watching some otherworldly creature attempting to communicate in our language.” Huh…
“Then when I noticed you daydreaming, or so you claimed to be, it seemed both funny and strange how alike the two of you actually are. I suppose those are simply characteristics of the White Clan.” There was no way that Sylvia of all people did not know the meaning of her words. You tilted your head while glancing at Cassius inquisitively only to see him forcing back a smile with a stern look.
“Um…”
“You know how you said Orka was odd a moment ago? I actually think you two have more in common than you realize.”
“Sylvia.”
“Hm? Don’t you think so too, Cassius?
“While I agree with you, I think you’ve said enough for now,” the brother said while a plate of cake was set down in front of him. “We wouldn’t want to offend our guest when she’s sitting right here.” How noble of him to basically say it was rude to insult someone when in front of them. What of behind?
You were interrupted before you could speak by a small gasp. The clinks of your own plates also took you away from the conversation to briefly thank the servants for them. “Oh, dear! Is that how it sounded? But I meant it in a good way,” Sylvia defended. “Even though they’re only cousins, the fact that they are so similar is rather remarkable. But if I offended you in any way, please accept my sincere apologies.”
“N-No… It’s quite all right.”
Poor woman, who was at the end of the sibling’s play without even noticing it. It was a shame when she already seemed wrung tight from dealing with Orka, and you could already imagining the way she'd crumple in her room like a used rag. “In my opinion, zoning out is fine if no one is talking.” Three heads turned to you, and you avoided the Pedelians to shrug at Pandora. “It’s not as if someone’s head should remain blank in the lull of a conversation. What matters is that you try to pay attention when someone speaks, which you did.”
“Th-thank you.” Her smile was no less awkward, but you simply hoped she didn’t feel as embarrassed or insulted when you returned it.
“I agree. I remember when I was younger that there was a person who always ignored me when I spoke.” And now you were at the end of the Pedelian joke. Your smile stayed on, though you hummed sarcastically while sliding the spoon through the cake and Cassius continued. “You could see it very clearly. As soon as I opened my mouth, she would look away and drift to the clouds.”
“And did this also happen over a decade ago?” came your prodding question.
“Perhaps, but it happened so much that I still worry about it when I speak at this very table.”
Silence ensued. You did not deign a reply, opting to ignore him until you realised Pandora was staring at you. “Looking around was much more entertaining than listening to you pretend to be an adult,” you explained tiredly.
Cassius wasn’t insulted, still stoic as he shaped a bite of his own cake. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you were calling me boring.”
“As a child you were boring when you talked about your studies. Can we drop this?”
“And do you still think I’m boring?”
You threw your hand up with a bewildered scoff. Sylvia giggled at the frown that twisted into existence on your face when you used it to gesture to her. “How would I know that? Ask your sister.”
Tapping caught the attention of the dining room before Cassius could retort. Outside the window you saw a familiar dove perched, her beak pecking against the glass impatiently until she caught your gaze. You shook your head and waved your hand when she waited quietly. The dove tilted her head, beady eyes staring back before slamming her entire body into the glass.
“Oh—! Oh, I’m so sorry, I must go see what my bird is up to lest it flattens itself. I’ll return to finish my food.” Sylvia chuckled when your chair groaned against the floor and you hurriedly stood. The Blue Heir moved with you, readjusting his cuffs and stepping around the table after he also raised. “I also have to go and deal with a matter. Lady Hyperion, please enjoy your talk with my sister.”
A matter? Then again, with Orka in the castle, you could only guess he had several to deal with now.
“You indulge in worries as a drunkard indulges in wine.” To think you were called out here just for this. You sighed as your lovely Thap-thap stubbornly sat on your head, only moving to raise and lower her head up and down and call for your pats. Perhaps she even thought herself as a guardian and you a frail, delicate egg—ah, but you supposed that was the case when it came to danger.
The sky was already bleeding. Different colours began to seep in as you breathed the clear air and shut your eyes. The coolness filled your chest and nose and exited as a warm sigh when you exhaled almost tiredly. The afternoon was already beginning. You only had around a couple hours more before you had to leave so you'd reach home before maghrib. Your friends were shining lights that never failed to brighten your sights, but you didn't think your eyes could handle them after your return. Maybe you would meet with them tomorrow.
“Your guard seems very vigilant today.”
You turned in time to see Cassius walking through the pathway. The flowers seemed to bend his way when the breeze brushed against them, stems dancing and leaves rustling while he stopped next to you. “I’m unsure if it’s because she's unfamiliar with the Pedelian Fortress or because of Orka.” You shrugged but let her continue her stay. “Maybe it's both, but as long as she doesn’t see Orka and crush me under her body, I’m fine.”
“You should be at ease for today, then. Orka found himself home in our dungeons.” Cassius lifted his hand, an action that confused you until the dove flapped her wings and flew over.
“Again?” You tilted your now free head. “What did he do?”
“Intruded in an area he was not supposed to be in.” The man lifted the finger Thap-thap settled on, and you scoffed when the bird eagerly nuzzled against his cheek. What a fairytale prince he was. “He saw Roxana. While I'm aware of how others look at her, I've never heard anyone so brazenly call her a demon or spirit.”
Your brows flew up. “Roxana? As in, Roxana Agriche?” The girl who helped you escape from the Black Manour was here? "Is she the benefactor you spoke of a few years ago?" It would make sense if so, since Cassius was not one to take hostages or women after defeating Lante.
Your mention of her seemed to pull a smile onto his face as he broke away from studying your pet. "Yes. She mentioned that she helped you escape too."
"She did. I even walked upon the very path you did." You chuckled at the time that should've been a blight on your rather easy life but instead remained something barely there. Time erased much of what happened no matter how hard you tried to remember, whatever information you'd retained from then preserved by muddled thoughts and voices and what your tongue uttered to Salwa thereafter.
Cooing dispersed the foggy pond. Thap-thap began raising and lowering her head, causing Cassius to raise his brow before meeting your eyes again. "She wants you to pet her," you chuckled. The dove lowered her head under the opposite hand he raised, stretching her neck for his fingers to rub and scratch lightly. You stared, lips pursing at the traitorous beast that kept nuzzling and grunting softly under the Pedelian as if he was her companion. “What a lovely prince you are. Even animals love you.”
Cassius smiled at your contemplative frown. “How odd. Usually green is your colour.”
“Ugh." Oh, you did sound rather envious. "Mashallah.” You shook your head to clear the budding emotion, dispelling it with the term before looking up at him. “While we're on the topic of beasts," you began, "I doubt that you’ll need any help with someone who is not in the demon-taming business with the White Demon Tamer here.”
Cassius's reply came fast while he watched Thap-thap. “No, I still need you... Even though it seems you need more time to get him better under control.” Well, Orka was still Orka. Very talented but also very unpredictable, and if this matter was personal or secret to the Pedelians, they could not include him without some worry in their hearts.
His last statement did worry you though. “Why? Did he get more unruly?”
“In a way, yes, but you also seem to want nothing to do with him.”
Confusion etched in your frown and the crease between your brows. The world held its breath in the beat of silence that rang out, blue eyes calm and shining under the sky while reflecting your falling face. “No.”
“And you’re also much rougher with him, with seems to spur him on.”
“Blue Heir. Blue Heir, you’re joking.”
“I’m afraid not. I remember you taming him in such a way that everyone was exempt from his antics, so I called you to do it once again.”
“Everyone but me! They were exempt because he was busy with me!” You desperately gestured to yourself, mouth falling open only for words to fail before your hand flew in the direction of the main castle. “The beast you called me to tame is the man in the dungeon?!”
“They even call him White Demon Tamer. A renowned target, I’m sure.”
“No! Oh Allah, protect me from such deceit.” Your hands rubbing your face muted the groan that left you. Even the dove that would flap her wings and distract you from your sorrows was cozying up to the enemy. “Thap-thap, come here.” You gave the order calmly but ended up widened your eyes in disbelief when she flew to his shoulder. “Thap-thap!”
And still she sat stubbornly on Cassius, who smiled and shrugged at your agape mouth. “Am I correct to assume you are trapped here until she returns?"
And now he dared to joke? "Very funny, Cassius. I wonder if your tongue would also laugh knowing that it has been used to not only lie, but to lead me into the close vicinity of a man who owns one that flaps freely!"
“I did deceive you. I apologise for doing so.” The Blue Heir put his hand to his heart, lips struggling to stay polite against silent laughter before he continued. "But I'm not asking for you to redirect his attention, only to admonish him where possible. While not by much, he listens to you more than anyone here.”
“When we were children, Cassius, and because his parents were there.” you corrected. You crossed your arms only to relinquish the position to rub your forehead defeatedly. "By God, what do you think of me? 'Admonish' Orka? You must think I actually tame beasts."
Cassius hummed, thinking over it for a moment before relenting. "Maybe 'admonish' was an incorrect term to use. You don't need to control him, but to work with me to ensure he doesn't bother Sylvia or Lady Roxana. His interest in my sister seems to have passed, but I still wish to keep an eye on him." The slight frown that took over his face eased when yours only looked unsure. "Rest assured that although I tricked you, I still meant that I'd prevent any risks. You may have guards to accompany you during your stay."
How desperate he was. Your bed and home still remained the most attractive thing to your mind this moment, but the tension coiling your muscles unwound with the crease on your forehead. "...Fine—But I really doubt anything will come of it or that it will be good." Yet Cassius's smile still stretched despite your warning.
"Thank you. Don't worry too much about the outcome; Sylvia has been waiting for your visit, so your most important task is to spend time with your friend." He lifted a hand to his shoulder for Thap-thap to hop onto until he turned it over and the small dove lifted in a flurry of flaps and landed on your shoulder. “I'll repay you for this."
“I need no repayment from you. Just leave it to Allah," you assured. You flinched at the peck to your head before lightly pushing Thap-thap away. “I’ll be leaving to search for Sylvia and eat my cake, then. Have a good day, Cassius.”
“And you, [Name].” Cassius nodded towards you respectfully before walking in the direction of the annex building. You let out another sigh, already dreading what might be to come until Thap-thap nuzzled against the side of your head. “Oh, be quiet," you muttered. "Go back to him.” The beast twitted indignantly when you pushed her away once more and batted your face with an enlarged wing, the flinch making her coo happily until you attempted to grab her and she flew off and plopped on your head.
Pandora: "thank God I'm the only normal Hyperion ever"
Pandora few seconds later: "to capture a handsome man at all costs means to become a hunter who abandons her morals at the first inconvenience"
having two blue eyed people stare u down has to be a good interrogation method. did u like the food. yeah it was great. ok, cuz it was posion. wow i didnt notice, it was just so good. get those booting up lasers away from me
8. Slow prey are pitiful. Those that freeze die anyways, so run.
Summary: we are getting jeremy. jeremy is fun but also kind of crazy
5,435 words
⇾ Move forward: One Should Take Caution Against the Attention of Those Who Hunt Beasts
☕︎ Pause: Masterlist
⇽ Review: Cowardice is a Parasite Which has no Place in Heirs.
Jeremy expected the Six States Meeting to be much more fun than it actually was. Not only was the place full of bland, boring, stuck-up nobles, he couldn’t even do what he wanted. His father had made sure to tell Jeremy before arriving to keep his manners, and it made sense since he was in Green Territory, but God could he feel his mind going numb with each draining moment. The annoyances were kept to a minimum, but he kind of wished the staff never shooed away the loiterers outside Roxana’s room.
His entire body was basically begging for the slightest action! He was left daydreaming about it whenever Roxana didn’t need anything and the crowd passed by him! He wanted to let loose, just a little bit, but no, he couldn’t because the Green Head no doubt had his eyes on the people he lost his wife and daughter to!
Only the daughter had not been lost. She entered the ballroom amidst hushed murmurs and a shattering glass. The Pedelian Heir also accompanied her as if he had never died, and neither of their expressions had so much as flickered under the watchful gazes all around them. If his father’s broken glass had reached their feet, their stride was such that Jeremy struggled to imagine them not simply walking over the shards without a care. They stood straight, looked ahead, and did not falter—Not even in front of the Agriches, the very people who threw them to their deaths.
The Blue Heir at least looked serious—a visage that fit in a room full of noblemen, noblewomen, and his murderer and kidnappers. The Green Princess? She just looked ahead as if she was walking into another empty room in her home: a neutral face with no glance towards him, just like that day in the garden after she noticed him before he could even sneak up on her.
That was—what, a week before she was chewed up by carantuls? He saw Dion throw her in there and heard her shrieks, saw the blood splatter and heard bones crunch. Everyone did. So how was she standing there, older and fully formed?!
The wind blew through Jeremy’s hair and flung his undone tie around as he leaned against the balcony railing. The servants behind him were loading everything they had unloaded for Roxana only a couple days ago, and the ones he called to his own room were no doubt doing the same. They were helpful and worked quickly, but the fact that they worked for the Green Head—
Right, they worked for that dead daughter and the old man who knew all along she was alive. Servants were always ignored until he wanted to talk to them for whatever reason, but Jeremy couldn’t act like these ones weren’t there as easily as he did for the ones back home. 'Xana was up to something (not that he cared too much; he'd find out eventually, whether through her orders or an explanation she gave. She could do whatever she wanted), those bitches turned out to be alive, the Green Head was smiling the entire time he mingled, and these Green servants were shuffling around her—
“Ugh!” Jeremy stormed back into the room and slammed the door to the balcony closed. The servants stopped to see what issue there was, but he walked past them towards the door with a scowl. “Continue working. I’ll be back soon.”
“Yes, sir.”
He wanted to go on a walk to somehow soothe the restlessness that only boomed after today (and find Roxana), but Jeremy nearly cracked the door under his hand when he saw that wretched urchin walk by just then. “Ugh.” Dion spared only a glance at him before continuing by. The younger brother scowled but did nothing else as he stepped out of the room and watched the older disappear in his. Had Dion actually talked to him or done anything, he might have actually gotten in trouble.
Yes, he would have gotten in trouble with the soldiers and staff working in this stupid castle. The knights would have no doubt tried to hold him down, and if he got away, he would be in a lot of trouble with his father.
Right. Especially if he did that to you, right?
Jeremy froze when he faced the end of the corridor—a dead woman standing just a few meters away from him. “You!” His pent up frustration nearly burst his veins at the sight of you, especially when your eyes met for the briefest of moments only to turn away right after. “Hey! Don’t you dare walk away!” He couldn’t chase after you without getting in trouble, so he had to make do with a few rushed steps forward—
And you listened, because you broke out into a run. Jeremy’s eye twitched, his teeth clenching before he instantly sped after you. “Get back here, you stupid corpse!”
The halls were long and decorated with knights. Some stepped forward instantly when Jeremy began to chase, his yells when they snatched his arms snatching your gaze while your steps faltered. “Let him go! It’s fine!” The knights paused, looking upon you incredulously until Jeremy broken out of their loosened grips.
“Like hell it is! Stop running!”
The speed you abandoned to speak yanked on your body when you saw the Agriche barrelling through the hall right towards you. His steps were silent even though he was quickly eating the distance between you, air rushing past your ears and heart thundering in your chest as the stairs quickly came up. “Ha! Good luck running whe—huh?” Jeremy was left scowling when you plopped down on the railing. The stairs are nearing him as well, but the sight of you looking back with a small wave as if you were merely hitching a ride made him surge forward. “You little—that’s nothing!” The wave was interrupted for a flinch when he jumped onto the railing and slid down after you.
The speed at which you were going should have made anyone topple over when they slid over the curve of the elegant stairs, but neither you nor he even leaned back as tiled floors clacked under your shoes. You only had a few seconds until he landed on the floor—something you wouldn’t have even known if he hadn’t yelled. “Get back here, you weasel!”
“Why would I ever—?!” The doors for some lounging rooms were open, and you were forced to shut up and slow to a calm walk whenever you were in view of those inside before bolting whenever you passed the open doors. Jeremy had the upper hand there, because he kept the time you lost when he merely bolted past them. “Stop him for ten seconds!” The guards stationed at the exit into the next hallway watched quizzically when you whizzed through before hurriedly grabbing the Agriche who nearly slid past them.
“What the fuck?! Get off of me!”
You wanted to say not to apprehend him, but couldn’t in case Jeremy could pinpoint which staircase you were taking. You climbed up as fast as you could, but unfortunately, remaining silent all the while had slowed your steps enough that when ten seconds had passed and he ran in, he immediately spotted the edge of your clothes as you turned on the spiral staircase. “I can see you! Stop running!”
God, this was so tiring! It didn’t help that he suddenly began climbing either. Jeremy stepped onto the handrail only to jump and grab the higher one, making you jolt before you continued and he hauled himself up. He leaned forward when he landed, snatching the end of your clothes to stop you. “You—Get off me! I have nothing to do with you!”
“Nothing?!” The Agriche scowled at your struggles while yanking you back. “You have everything to do with—hey!” You had decided to go with his pull, barrelling straight into him and causing the two of you to topple down the stairs. His yell made you more worried as you covered your head until finally hitting the landing, but scrambling up was no use when he latched onto your foot. “How are you alive?!”
“Because my heart’s still beating and my brain’s still working!” Jeremy was about to shout until your other leg suddenly kicked him off. You had only meant to get his hand off, so to see him rolling down made you falter, hand covering your mouth before shouting after him unhelpfully. “Land properly!” You would be lucky if he (safely) rolled all the way down and didn’t stop somewhere in the middle, but you didn’t dare watch as you ran back up the stairs.
“You fucking—!”
Footsteps slammed up the steps. Even though he was fast, he only entered the next floor after you had already turned the corner. One side of the corridor led to another staircase while the other side first held windows and a balcony. You’d taken the latter to throw the Agriche off. You finally got to take a break, heart thundering in your chest and heavy breaths blocked by your hand as you leaned on the wall. Your fingers were shaking, and you pulled them back to check what was wrong with you until the looming shadow made you flinch and whirl around.
Jeremy’s breath was haggard, a deep scowl on his face and eyes wide as his arm rested on the wall above your head. “I’m going to kill you—”
Jeremy yelled again when you just bolted once more. His hand just brushed the back of your clothes as he followed after you, and he was about to lunge to end this stupid chase once and for all until you suddenly turned into the balcony.
Oh, you were stupid.
Jeremy wasn’t in as much of a tired state as you, but his breathing was still more ragged than it should have been, so he slowed as he followed into the open balcony. “Just stay still for one fucking—” He caught the object flying at him just before it hit his face. The shoe was instantly crushed in his hand, and he looked down at it puzzled until he raised his head and saw you jump off the railing. “Are you crazy?!”
The rustling of the tree and lack of a loud thud was a telltale sign that you had not crashed into the ground. Jeremy ran over and glared down, his veins fighting against his skin and cracks blooming under his fingers at the sight of you on the tree before he climbed over as well. “Stay still!”
The guards stationed near the wall looked over when you had landed in the tree. They furrowed their brows, wondering what it was you were up to as you shuffled back (were you up to your childhood antics again?) until Jeremy suddenly landed on the same branch and blocked view of you. “Hey! Get down from there!”
“I’m fine, I promise! This is just—”
Jeremy tilted his head, his frown only deepening at the weird words you were suddenly spouting. He glanced at your raised hand before looking over his shoulder, the tense knights making a vessel almost pop in his head before it snapped back to you. “You—!”
Only to see you hop to another branch.
Jeremy’s eye twitched, his finger left pointing in the air until he screamed. “I just want to talk to you, you crazy bitch! How are you alive?!”
“What did you just call me?” Just like that, all sense to run away from this guy disappeared as your face morphed. “I didn’t know running away from a random man chasing me made me earn that name!”
“Chasing you? I wasn’t—you were running!” Jeremy indignantly proclaimed. Yeah, he’d chase you down anyway, but you were still the one that ran first here!
“You were chasing me!”
“How’s it my fault if you—?!”
“Don’t try to blame this on me! Should I’ve welcomed you with open arms?!” you retorted before holding them out. “‘Here, jump in!’”
Wow. Wow, you had such a way of just grinding every part of him. Jeremy would’ve laughed in disbelief if his blood wasn’t simmering, teeth gritted together as he scowled. “Maybe you should’ve instead of running around like a headless chicken!” Fuck, maybe he should’ve taken you all those years ago and torn your legs off!
“Head—headless chicken?” And now you were acting dumb. Jeremy groaned, rubbing his face before pushing his hair back and looking up at your baffled face. “Would a headless chicken even—oh, whatever!” You also seemed equally as frustrated, waving him off with a deep frown while peering at the lower branches. “We’re not getting anywhere with this, and, honestly, I’m tired, so let’s just get down before someone sees us.”
Fine by him. Jeremy let out a scoff, muttering something about how this would’ve happened in the first place if you just didn’t run away. You gave no reply, and the two of you jumped down from your respective branches and landed on the ground.
Jeremy didn’t bother to fix his clothes—he found no reason to. Not only was everyone other than the knights here inside, but it was late evening and dark out. Instead the Agriche kept his gaze trained on you, who did fix your clothes. He had only seen you a few times, but in all of them, you looked proper and well-mannered (boring), so seeing your clothes askew and one foot bare on the grass...
He snorted. The sound was odd, enough so that you raised your head only to see him looking down at you with an insufferable grin. “Princess lost her shoe.”
…You were going to lose your second one soon if he didn’t stop. Instead of enacting your fantasy, you only gave him a sarcastic smile. “How funny.”
“I know. Why are you alive?”
Just like that, he was glaring down at you like you had punched his face in.
Right, he did ask you that, but what answer were you supposed to give? “As I’ve said, my heart is beating and my brain is working.” You let out a tired breath as you straightened and gestured to yourself halfheartedly. “And so I am alive.”
“No, I saw you getting eaten by carantuls!”
What? Was that seriously how they decided to fake your death for the rest of the Agriches? Of course you weren’t picky nor did you care as long as you got out, but just thinking about being “fed” to carantuls when Dion had slaughtered one above you made you huff until Jeremy leaned closer with his hands on his hips. “How did you fake it? Was it a spell? Are you a sorcerer?”
“My heart is beating, my brain is working; thus, I am alive.”
Was it dangerous to provoke him like this? You could see his eye twitch and the hem of his pants dent under his hands, but there really was no other answer to give. “I am just now hearing of this… ‘carantul feeding’.” You waved your hand as if you could swipe the concept away before crossing your arms. “Why would you ask an outsider about the inner workings of your home?”
You expected the conversation to come to a close after that, but the way his eyes narrowed in on you like a predator who had been played around by its prey for too long made you pause. “Because you died in there, and now you’re alive again?”
Could he not read between the lines? Was he too angry to? “…No, I mean that there are better people to ask.”
“Better than the corpse?”
“…Ha.” Would all Agriches bother you like this? At least after this was all finished, you wouldn’t need to see them again. “The two other children that accompanied you here, I’m assuming, also live in your home.”
Jeremy was about to retort indignantly that he would never ask Dion of anything, but the sight of his sister looking down at them from her window pulled his attention away entirely. Was it time to leave?
Jeremy practically tore his gaze from you, letting you frown freely for a few seconds before easing when he looked at you again. “You’re lucky I need to go.” He was about to storm past you, but he thought better of it before he even took the first step. “But I’m not letting you go next time I see you.”
Little did he know that you’d be keeping a large distance between yourselves from now on. Instead, a smile graced your face as you gave your farewell. “May you enjoy the rest of the festivities.”
Jeremy scoffed as if he was privy to a joke you weren’t, but he gave no other response apart from a disdainful gaze while shoving his hands in his pockets and leaving.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Which of you was the one that was kidnapped? If anyone were to look at the women currently sitting on a carpet amidst cushions and pillows, they would have thought it to be the weeping Layla.
The common room of the women's wing was large and echoed with your voices when you brought her here. The moonlight was not enough tonight to properly reveal the green tessellations running across the ceiling and walls with other colours, nor the patterns on the low couches behind your backs and under your forms. Her fingers quickly wiped away several tears before they could join the ones that darkened the pillow held close to her chest, your arm loosely linked with hers while Salwa worked on ripping apart some dates. “I-I was so angry for the past few days, but you were so scared all this time!”
“I wasn’t scared.”
Her wet face quickly turned to you with trembling lips. “Then why didn’t you visit?”
“I…” Ah, but the entire reason you never again stepped foot into Yggdrasil was in fear of being recognised—not only by Lante Agriche, but any official whose words would reach his ears. You didn’t even dare to write in case the code would be discerned as yours, however improbable that was.
Your hands went to your lips with a hum. “I suppose I was scared.”
Salwa stared blankly at you, fingers paused around a date while Layla sniffled. “To think you were kidnapped,” she lamented. “They didn’t do anything to you, did they? Are you alright?”
“Oh, yes, I’m fine.” You waved her concern off easily. “I only really got hurt when I was electrocuted—but it was necessary!” you hurriedly explained when their mouths fell open. “And I have no injuries from that time!”
“Really? None at all?”
“Yes.” The breathy laugh that left took with it the tension in your shoulders as you smiled. “No injury. Actually, the only thing I have from that time is a scar on my back, and it wasn’t even from the my captivity,” you explained. “It was just when I was running from the kidnapper, so he—”
“What?!” You winced as if you felt the sharp sting slice your back again, hands raising automatically at the wide watery eyes staring at you before Salwa slipped a date into her agape mouth. “She healed from it, Layla. And look at her now! Doesn’t she look fine, both in mind and body?”
The awkward smile you sent was never studied when Layla just scoffed. “Does the ease with which she speaks of this sound normal?!” She shook her head and rubbed her face, leaving you to tighten your arm around hers and place a hand on her shoulder before she slid it off. “Don’t you dare comfort me when I should be comforting you. If you so much as wipe a single tear I will give you a reason to cry!”
You’d forgotten how lively Layla could be. You let her feed you a date, deciding to merely bear her care if it meant easing her weighted heart until small footsteps redirected your gazes. “Excuse me, would it be alright if I—oh!” The Blue Princess froze in place with a hand over her mouth at the sight. She’d only come into the women’s wing to spend more time with you and properly meet your friends, but she hadn’t at all expected you to be sitting on either side of one weeping! “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—!”
“It’s alright, don’t worry.” You stood from your place as Layla hurriedly wiped her face. “I’ll be right back, okay?” As much as her trembling lips captured your heart, you would return to retrieve it during the next few days with Layla and opted to lead the Blue Princess away before then. She was sweet but your friend was rather private, and she seemed to agree with your actions when she nodded and waved.
“Is it really? I can—”
“Shh, enough. I said it’s alright.” And if she was going to say she’d come back later, you didn’t think she had much time considering the coat draped over her dress. “Are you leaving soon?” you asked while leading her away by the hand.
“Oh, yes. We need to start making our way back.” There was no issue in doing so despite the time, as oil lamps lit the way well enough for their carriage and its driver. Sylvia glanced over her shoulder to the two women on the carpet just when you left the grand room for the hall. “Is your friend okay? She looks incredibly distraught.”
“It’s because I was too blunt.” A small sigh escaped under the high ceiling. Here the walls were also incredibly decorated with geometric patterns, a sight so different from her home that Sylvia’s gaze was unwittingly taken by the designs and colours while you spoke. “Staying home so much might’ve dulled my common sense. Of course one shouldn’t just spout they’ve been kidnapped.”
You were already expecting a quick urge from her to be kind to yourself. Instead the question that came thereafter made you glance at her in surprise. “You were kidnapped?” The girl’s frown parted, blue eyes shining from the moonlight streaming in through the balcony doors when they widened upon you. “Is that why you haven’t been writing or visiting? You were taken?”
‘Indeed, one’s mind must be attentive when speaking so that the tongue does not whip another’s heart.’
“Yes. I’ve grown accustomed to everyone around me knowing that I forgot there are still those who remain close without knowledge of it.” Your jewellery glinted when you pushed open the doors and stepped out from candle’s glow into moonlight. The night breeze blew through your hair and swayed your clothes, lifting your smile as you guided her to sit on a bench. “It happened a little after your brother returned to your home. I think most things were similar to his capture, actually.”
“Really? Like what?”
The question was odd, but you thought nothing of it while remaining standing. “Well, the route that I took was…” Until you saw that innocent face. You paused, lips parted before they curved into a grin and you pinched her nose. “There’s a reason your brother didn’t tell you anything of his capture.”
Sylvia flinched and quickly pushed your hand away when your laugh floated into the air. "I have no idea what you’re talking about!"
"Oh, you don't?" Quickly your hands returned with a fervor to squish her cheeks together as she struggled to push them off. "There's a word in my language for people like you: pretending to be innocent while hiding that cunning nature of yours!"
"[Name]!" Sylvia turned her face away from your wrists trembling against her hold before standing up. Your hands were much easier to push off then, relenting only for you to laugh louder when she shoved you playfully. Your feet stumbled towards the railing, the gleeful sounds easing into a satisfied sigh that released with the heaviness in your heart. You stretched, chest rising with an intake of chilly night air that made you shiver before crossing your arms over the railing.
Yggdrasil weather was warm to most, but to you and those from your home, it was especially chilly at night. The hairs on your arms were already raised, and you smoothed them over while mulling over the fact you should have brought a coat before something caught your eye. "I think you may be leaving now." Far off you could just barely see the front of a Pedelian carriage poking out from a corner. The soldiers on this side of the castle were all women so you had no need to cover nor dress properly, and that fact remained when everyone packing their luggage were blocked from sight. You wouldn't have even known it was the Blue Clan's carriage if you didn't know Sylvia was leaving, as their symbol was covered by wall.
"Oh, you’re right! I should leave now." You straightened when Sylvia stepped closer. Easily your arm slid around her shoulders, and the wind carried her scent to envelop you as you met her embrace eagerly. Your arms were tight around her shoulders, a deep sigh wafting out before you pulled back. "Let me walk you there."
"Oh, there's no need—"
"Nonsense. You're my guest." The doors creaked open, wind intruding into the hall for a moment before the glass shut and you walked forward with her. "I'll get dressed quickly then accompany you."
The Agriches had already left when evening turned to night, and now the Pedelians were leaving even later than them. It was a mystery why either would want to leave at this time; while oil lamps lit the streets well enough to see ahead, what about when they exited the Khilafah State? Would it be bright by then? Alas, your and your father's concerns were brushed off. You bid farewell to the Blue Head and shared a final embrace with Sylvia, the two of you exchanging a desire to meet again soon and to stay safe until then before she stepped into the carriage.
Your hand fell from hers, watching her get seated before passing a glance to the castle entrance. "Your brother seems to be running late." An amusing thought when he looked so put-together and serious during the banquet, the image of him hurriedly getting dressed while rushing through the halls now bringing a small chuckle out of you until the Blue Master spoke.
"Cassius had to take care of something, so he went on ahead of us." Your smile fell, replaced with surprise as he continued on to answer your father's concern. "He must’ve been in a rush and forgotten to say goodbye."
“Ah, the children have grown.” The wistful laugh that left your father twinged your heart before his arm tightened around your shoulders. "It's fine. As long as he's alright, there is no issue. Goodbye, Roussel. You as well, daughter."
The two smiled and exchanged the farewell one final time before the doors closed. The horses' trots trailed across the pathway, echoing into the silent buff until they passed and the gates creaked closed behind them. "I wonder what was so important that he left in such a rush."
Your father's arm remained around your shoulders, directing you back to the entrance once the sounds of their carriage began to fade. "I’m sure he’s fine." His hand rubbed your head, an action that you smiled at until yet another question took you by surprise tonight. "Were the last shoes uncomfortable?"
"What?" You looked down, gazing at the new pair you were wearing before realising his concern. "No, but I couldn’t find a part of the pair. I still have to look for it again."
"Why did you wait?"
"I needed to speak with Layla immediately..." Her spiral was not something you could put off, after all. The memory of her tears made you fight back a wince as your father hummed.
"Let's go, I'll help you find it."
"It's okay—"
"Why? Do you think I can't do it?" Again he rubbed your head, this time harder and bringing a louder laugh out of you as you covered your head and stepped through the doors. "Fine, let's see who will find it first."
Neither of you did. Even the servants that you'd whispered to quietly join your search came with nothing but empty hands. It was so strange because you yourself had searched all balconies and even the corridors connected to them in case you misremembered where you'd left the slipper, yet not one of those places relented the article you needed.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sorry, sister." The servant shrugged at your bewildered smile before a guard at the side joined in. "Sister, the one who has walked with you, the one whose every step was taken with yours, has left for a different life. Maybe you should prepare for it a janazah."
"Wow. May Allah bless you." Only laughs were your response. You huffed out a laugh before returning the salams of the two and parting from them to walk onto the balcony. The wind greeted you with utmost eagerness by billowing your clothes before relaxing, letting you plop down on the bench with a mournful sigh.
This was so strange. How could it just disappear? Where could it have gone to? "Did a bird pick it up...?" Or maybe it was some stranger who decided to take it, for whatever reason there may be. That would raise a problem—this you knew when your heart wriggled impatiently in your chest while your brows pinched before you huffed and propped your chin on your hand. Should you just give up in finding it then? There were so many who could take it after you threw it at—
…No way.
The carriage shook with the bumps in their path. The trip back to their home was silent for both him and Roxana apart from some agreements on her end with her father, but Jeremy didn’t mind. The revelation that that stupid Fontaine bastard actually tried to stage a coup had shocked the younger brother, but he had already grown tired of hearing it from his grumbling father.
Well, it was shocking to hear. Who knew a coward like him could do that?
Whatever the case, maybe Jeremy would have actually mulled over the topic longer if he wasn’t currently whistling to himself in his mind. ‘Crazy bitch.’ Jeremy’s fingers brushed over the soft inner cushion of the fancy shoe in his vest as he fought back a smile. There was nothing special to look at outside, but not only was it the only thing he could actually freely look at when his father was so livid, it was all but necessary to turn his face away and hide the twitching of his lips.
He didn’t know the same Green Princess that he saw standing straight and expressionless all those other times could run around and jump off balconies into trees. He still remembered when he had snuck up on Dion and her three years ago and just how unassuming she felt—what, with the way she clearly wasn’t as built, strong, or agile as the Blue Heir who'd been trapped a while before her. Did she just need time to get fun?
Jeremy was certain he would have caught her easily if he only knew the layout of the castle and she hadn’t had her knights’ help, but she still did improve enough in being both crafty and agile. Now that he thought about it, maybe ‘Xana had a reason to be interested in her.
The small nudge to his arm made him glance to his side. Roxana tilted her head discreetly, silently asking what was on his mind for him to be so silent and away. His jacket was on her lap once again, warming her up the same way—no, less than how her attentive gaze warmed him up as he grinned.
Their father was currently glaring out the window. Jeremy glanced at the reflection to make sure he was not in it before sliding the shoe from his vest. Roxana’s eyes widened slightly until she broke out into a small, amused smile at the article, and Jeremy couldn’t help but to stretch a leg out and lean back.
‘Might have to wait until next time to chew her out, but not to bother her.’ Just imagining the same baffled face she had at being called a crazy bitch on that tree made him grin as he ran his fingers over her missing shoe.
Jeremy: "you can't run- oh, you can run. i underestimated you. COME BACK"
Mc, thinking: this will get him to stop chasing me. he'll never do this. i win.
Jeremy: jumps down and lands on the tree.
Mc: "God damn you."
i had fun writing this chapter. i hope everyone had fun reading it even tho i think half of it was just chasing each other.
Wishing you the best of luck at your test and upcoming interview <3333 You can doo ittt <33
Life has its up and downs but I'm doing quite well :) I recently passed the pre theoretical exam for my driver license. I've been holding that off for a while.... like 3 years TTT BUT I made progress and I'm proud of that. I have the actual exam next week soo gotta study for that haha 🫠
Take as much time as you need to update your stories. I'm sure everyone is very patient, so don't rush and get loads of rest too <3
awww thats so sweet of u. CONGRATS ON PASSING AND WISHING U THE BEST FOR UR EXAM! im sure u can do it! and having a drivers license is so useful, commuting is tiring BETTER LATE THAN NEVER ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ
ur so sweet. Yes life has its ups and downs but i hope u get through the downs easily and that the ups are joyous beautiful and what u remember. thank u for ur advice, i hope that u take it as well! rest a lot and take care of urself for u are wonderful!
Omg hiii you're aliveee :000 I was so worried TT I'm so glad you're back. How has life been treating you?
omg dont be worried im fine (｡>\<) I have a test today and an interview in a few days plus a lot of readings to complete soon, so i am still busy with some things BUT im actually feeling much better alhamdulillah! im so happy to be back, especially with such sweet, kind people like you!
aww this was so sweet thank u for checking on me. i hope ur life is wonderful and that ur doing well. thank u again! ♡(˃͈ ˂͈ )
Hii! How how are youu?? (*´∇｀)ﾉ. I just passed CAE I didnt wanna talk to anyone before that I was super nervous😭😭
I hope you don't mind me rambling I just got hit with a random rush of emotions?? 😖
Btw, did you read the novels yet?
I just watched Divergent, and man, it's kinda ahh.
I understand why it was popular, though, but give me back my wasted hours asap, because this was NOT worth it💔💔.
Yea, I don't know how any of these correlate to one another, but I just wanted to talk to you...((・・;)
Also, I was rereading "The Sun Makes the Crown Shine," and AUGHH! I know I've said this before, but I love it sm🥹🥹; also Riddle... Ily, Riddle.
It got me thinking about how there might be distance even if they did get into a relationship, like the reader would be closed off, y'know? Like
Their silence made him lonelier still.
(Also, this TikTok kinda reminded me of that: https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSQ4KWdnY/ )
AND I'M SO EMBARRASSED NOW. BYE. IGNORE THE LAST PART. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GOING ON ABOUT. BOUTTA DROWN MYSELF. LY BYE.
-⚘️
HELLOOOOOO TULIP HIIIIII ₍₍⚞(˶>ᗜ<˶)⚟⁾⁾ SO NICE TO SEE U AGAIN! IM SO HAPPY U PASSED MWAH MWAH DID U CELEBRATE?
and no worries i love rambles. lmk what ur thinking 🫡 (psst btw i love talking to u. nothing has to correlate speak ur mind (っ◔◡◔)っ(•́ᴗ•̀✿) )
i didnt read the novels yet bc im working on something (ull see soon inshallah) and had so many things to do BUT i should be free soon so IM SO EXCITED TO READ THEM YESSSSSSS. i cant wait ugh. speaking of twst i need to speed through chapter 7. im on part 69/349. are we joe king.
i remember divergent wowww. i think it was popular because it was kind of based on similar themes to the hunger games, which many books also did and thus got popular as well. but yeah its also not to my tastes. i didnt even watch the movies i watched someone react to them lol
riddle is wow. idek how to explain it i didnt expect to like him but i love his story, character, interactions. hes so fun and sweet. im glad u liked the story that much tho.... thats so sweet. that actually makes me so happy 🥹 may u have the best of both worlds ameen. also "their silence made him lonelier still" FIRE dont give me ideas with ur fantastic words girl that makes so much sense. and i also think they'd have a lot of work before she actually opens up to him. riddles as open as ever mcs still just there like ദ്ദി(˙ᗜ˙) in my opinion.
AND THE QUOTES DOOOOO REMIND ME OF THEM. THE QUOTES. GIRL I GET UR MIND I SEE WHAT UR THINKING. DRAGGING U BACK FROM THE WATER BY THE ANKLES WE STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT ᕙ( •̀ ᗜ •́ )ᕗ
Hello :D Ive been wanting to plan and write my own longfic of ninjago and i wanted to ask for any tips or tricks on how to plan and outline such a long story that follows canon 🙏
On a side note I love the way you characterise the characters and mc in your ninjago fic! Its so fun to see them interact :DD And the pace is so good as well, I really enjoy your writing <3
I hope you have a lovely day <333
hi! (≧∇≦)ﾉ
first of all thank u for ur kind words. im really happy that u enjoy my writing and the story in general. i hope ur having a lovely day too!
this ask came a long time ago so im sorry for the wait :( i hope i can help tho!
It would help to know ninjago's history bc its so confusing, especially since the writers were coming up with it along the way after it was supposed to end at s2 😭dont be scared to alter it to make more sense to u/ur story. thats what im doing with mine.
dont worry too much about planning everything. I actually had the bare bones for mc's backstory when i started writing and developed them more as i wrote.
something that i always remind myself is to not force events but lead them. for ex, if u want a rivalry between mc and another character but the character suddenly starts saying death threats when thats not how they are, the enmity is forced. it doesnt necessarily need to have a reason but it just needs to make sense. like nyas not gonna push mc off a cliff u know?
make sure its fun for u! if its fun for u itll be fun for someone else!! its much easier to spend time on the story that way too 😋
keep track of important events or details pls if u have bad memory like me just write down a brief one line summary for what u need to remember so u can check it if u need.
because i'm Muslim, whenever im about to write or edit, i read the dua for speaking well and bismillah.
these are my tips. theyre not necessary but they help me a lot. thank u for the long wait, i hope ur writing goes really well!! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
