Where is It?
It had been months since Wu's ominous warning: The Overlord has begun gathering the Golden Weapons. If the he collects all four, he will become the Golden Master, and then, there will be no stopping him.
But the problem was, I had no idea where to even start looking for these Golden Weapons, and nobody else seemed to either. I stayed at school all break until sixth year started and I still had no leads. Zane was researching right now, but it wasn't looking good.
And of course, as soon as I finished talking to Wu, he passed out on the steps. I visited him at the Infirmary every day, but he's always sleeping. We were completely lost. Meanwhile, the Overlord was getting closer and closer to becoming the most powerful being in all of Ninjago.
I groaned and buried my face in my hands. I just didn't know what to do.
"It'll be okay, Kai," Nya told me.
"Yeah, we'll come up with something. We always do," Jay added. I glanced up to see everyone else nod in agreement.
I sighed. "But we have no leads, no clues, no nothing! I even asked the other Resistance members. The only person who could help is Wu and he's knocked out cold."
"What about my dad?" Lloyd asked.
"He's been too busy," I replied. Since Chen was gone and Wu was out of commission, Garmadon had gone back to being Headmaster. I thought we could handle this problem on our own without bothering him, but clearly I was wrong. "I'll ask him after class though," I told Lloyd.
"See, Kai," Cole said. "We're going to make it." He noticed my untouched food. "Cake?"
I laughed. Good to see some things stayed the same while the rest of the world fell apart. "No thanks."
He shrugged. "Suit yourself."
I looked over at Zane, his nose buried in a book. "Anything?" I asked hopefully.
"Not yet." I sighed. He'd been saying that for the past two months. Zane glanced up at me. "Tomorrow, I will check my father's library."
I nodded. "Sounds good. By the way, how is your dad?" I could use some regular news; this whole golden mess was driving me crazy.
"He is…not well," Zane admitted. "My father is old, and with the additional stress…I fear he may not be with us much longer." His hands quivered, shaking his book.
"I'm sorry." I didn't mean to upset my friend. Nya put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a squeeze.
"Death is a natural process," Zane said. "But I can not imagine life without my father."
I nodded. "Nya and I lost our parents when we were little. You look up to them and you think they'll always be there, but…" I trailed off. This wasn't helping.
"When my mother died, I didn't know what I was going to do," Cole added quietly. "My dad didn't even act sad. He just sang and danced like nothing ever happened. I felt like I was the only one who actually cared about her."
I stared at him. At least Nya and I had each other, but man, I couldn't imagine. "Cole…"
He shrugged. "He told me later that singing and dancing made him feel closer to her, but still. Those were the worse days of my life. It wasn't until I became a wizard that I got my purpose back."
"My birth parents didn't even want me," Jay whispered, playing with his scarf. "They just left me on someone's doorstep."
"We've all gone through hardships," Lloyd said. "My dad was a convicted criminal and my mom left me with Wu, but we pushed through. And that makes us who we are today. Death is hard, but we're always here for you, Zane."
I blinked. "When did you get so wise?" I asked Lloyd.
He grinned. "When Wu's your uncle, you pick up a few things," he replied.
"Thank you," Zane said suddenly. "All of you. I am glad you are my friends."
"Me too," I agreed.
"Group hug!" Cole announced and we all piled in. I took a deep breath and smiled. This is what I was fighting for. To protect all of the precious people in my life. I squeezed tight. We'd find those Golden Weapons and then we'll get rid of the Overlord once and for all.
The bell rang and we broke apart. "I'll let you know what Garmadon says at dinner," I said.
"See you, Kai," Nya called.
"See you then," everyone chorused.
After my last class, I went straight to Garmadon's office. His door was closed, so I knocked, but I got no answer. I sighed and sat down next to the door. I guess I could work on my essay while I waited.
"You'll be there awhile," someone said. "He won't even see me."
I jerked my head up. Oh. It was the custodian, the man who called himself the Brown Ninja. I remembered way back in first year I was actually afraid of him. I found out a few years later he wasn't even a wizard; Wu just kept the man around to take care of the school.
"I can wait," I told him, then I went back to my essay.
"Alright," he said. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
I just shook my head and kept writing.
A few hours later, all my homework was done, but Garmadon's door was still firmly closed. I slammed my book shut. "Forget this," I muttered.
I stood up and rapped on the door.
"For the last time, Dareth, I'm not going to give you that promotion—"
"Um, I'm not Dareth. It's Kai. I was hoping to talk to you." I waited until eventually I started counting the seconds. I made it to a hundred before he finally answered.
"Come in," he sighed. I pushed the door open and for a moment I didn't even see Garmadon because he was buried behind stacks of paperwork.
"I used to envy my brother, but now," he gestured to the mountains of forms and packets, "he can have his job back for all I care."
"Speaking of Wu, when he came back he said something about collecting Golden Weapons. Do you know where they are?" I asked hopefully.
"My father created them to control four of the main elements, but he never told me anything." Garmadon replied bitterly. "Wu was always the favorite. He got the school, the wand, the all-powerful golden weapons…" he trailed off and shook his head. "Sorry, kid."
I sighed. "Seems nobody knows anything about them. Thanks anyways." I turned to leave, but Garmadon called after me.
"I do know that Wu hid the Sword of Fire somewhere in this school, just in case. Of course he never told me where, but…"
I grinned. That was the best news I'd gotten in the past two months. "Thank you! I'll start looking right away."
I sprinted out of the room and bolted down toward the library. "Guys!" I yelled and everyone jumped.
"Kai, keep it down," Cole said.
"Seriously, this is a library," Jay complained.
I sighed and sat down next to Nya. "Whatever. But guess what?"
"What?" my sister replied.
"I know where the first weapon is: right here in the school! How great is that?"
"That is convenient," Zane replied. "However, the school is quite large. It could take some time to locate the weapon."
"Especially when we don't know anything about it," Jay added.
"Well, that's not entirely true," I said. "Garmadon said the weapon was called the Sword of Fire, and Wu was the one who hid it. So it probably has something to do with the Fire House or maybe it's in Wu's office someplace."
"I don't know," Lloyd said. "This is my uncle we're talking about. Isn't that a bit too obvious?"
"Probably, but does anyone have any better ideas?" I waited, but all I got was silence. "Exactly."
Everyone still looked uneasy. Finally, Lloyd broke the silence. "Why don't we ask my uncle? He's the one who hid it in the first place."
I clenched my fist, but took a deep breath and slowly tried to relax. Lloyd's new found wisdom was really starting to get on my nerves. Honestly, he was only a fourth year and I had been saving the school for the past six years. I think I knew what I was doing.
"You can try," I finally said. "But every time I've been in there, he's been asleep."
Lloyd didn't reply. Maybe I was a bit snappier then I meant to be. "Look," I told him. "You can ask Wu if you want. But meanwhile, the rest of us are going to start searching the school. We have to find these weapon before the Overlord does."
"Do we even have to find this sword?" Jay asked. "I mean, it's already in the school, so isn't it already pretty safe?"
"Wu said we have to gather all the weapons," I replied. "So yes."
"Why?" Cole demanded.
"I don't know! That's just what he said!" I snapped. "Besides, maybe if we find the sword, it'll give us a clue to where the other weapons are."
"That is highly unlikely," Zane said.
I growled. "You know what? Fine. You guys can sit here and argue about this all you want. I'll go find the Sword of Fire by myself." I stood up and stomped out of the library. I can't believe them! I came bringing good news and all they do is complain and ask pointless questions.
"Kai!" Nya called. I ignored her. "Come back!"
I slammed the door behind me. Smoke poured off me in waves, and when I looked down my hands were flaming. I tried to take a couple deep breaths, but steam poured out of my mouth and nose. I needed to calm down. I broke into a run and burst outside. Maybe some fresh air would help me.
A cool breeze blew and slowly, my hands stopped burning. I still felt hot and angry though. I just wanted to stop the Overlord. Why couldn't they see that? I sighed and sat down on the steps. It was here that Wu just appeared out of nowhere and told me that I had to gather the weapons.
I just didn't know what to do. I watched the sun slowly sink below the mountains. It looked like the whole countryside was on fire, covering Ninjago in a warm light. Especially the gap in between two large mountains, forming a golden crescent. I sighed and leaned against the stones. I should probably go back and apologize to everyone. I didn't mean to get so upset, it just kind of happened. I want to keep everyone safe.
I closed my eyes and basked in the evening sun. It was beautiful spring weather out here. Maybe I'd go back in a few minutes…
A shrill cry pierced the air. I looked up and there was the falcon that seemed to like hanging around the school. I was at the base of the school and there it was circling around the mountain until it disappeared behind the veil.
Suddenly, I was deep inside Ouroboros and the falcon dropped the Sorting Hat in my lap. I reached inside and there was a golden sword. I lifted up and flames wrapped around the blade. I gasped. "The Sword of Fire!"
AN: First chapter of the Golden Master-hope you like it! Thank you to my faithful reviewers! You guys rock!