Once long ago, in the city of Magnolia, there lived a young girl named Asuka Connell. She and her brother Bizack were living with their grandfather Makarov Dreyar since their parents died when they were young.

Asuka was sixteen with so dark green of hair it almost seemed black, and her eyes were a shining purple. Bizack was ten with light green hair and black eyes. Both were staring out the window, waiting for their guests to arrive to the party.

"Children." A voice called from across the room. "Come away from the window. They'll get here when they get here."

Both turned to their grandfather-who was much shorter than the both of them. Asuka tugged at her floor-length green dress. She hated dressing up, but this was a Christmas party after all. So she had to wear it. Her brother didn't look very comfortable in his suit either.

"But Laxus and Mira should've been here by now." Bizack whined, sliding to the floor.

"That's enough." The old man chided. "Your cousin and godmother will be here soon."

"Sooner than you think old man."

All turned to the doorway of the library. There stood a twenty-three year-old man with blonde hair and gray eyes and a nineteen year-old woman with long white hair and blue eyes.

"Laxus!" Bizack exclaimed, running over to the man.

Laxus scooped up the young boy. He'd been close with his cousins since they were all raised by their grandfather. It also helped that they were also children his wife Mira Jane used to babysit. "How's it goin' half-pint?"

"Pretty good." He looked at Mira. "Did you bring us presents?"

"Bizack…" Asuka sighed, going over to her godmother for a hug.

Mira laughed lightly, encasing the girl in a hug. "It's all right. We have been gone for so long on our honeymoon. I think you're both entitled to one gift tonight."

"Weren't you going to bring a few guests to our party?" Makarov asked as Mira handed the children their gifts.

"The snowstorm outside delayed 'em." Laxus explained shrugging out of his coat. "They'll be here in the morning."

"Whoa neat!"

The adults looked down at the boy to see him holding quite a few toy soldiers in his hands. "These are so cool!"

"We got those in Russia. You better take care of 'em."

"Believe me I will."

"Open yours Asuka." Mira said, taking a seat by the fire.

Asuka sat on the floor by Mira's chair, looking at the box. She pulled the ribbon free, and opened the box. Inside, on top of a bunch of tissue paper, was a green amulet in the shape of an emperor dragon head.

"Mira it's beautiful." Asuka said picking it up.

The white-haired woman smiled. "I hoped you'd like it. But there's more in the box."

"Why does she get more?" Bizack asked.

"Watch it kid." Laxus warned. "In reality, you got more."

Bizack pouted.

Asuka pulled the tissue paper away to reveal a wooden male blonde hair and bright green eyes. He was done up in a green ninja gi complete with a mask that covered his mouth, and a pair of golden katanas strapped to his back.

"Oh Mira…" she said in awe, picking him up gently. "He's wonderful."

Mira Jane smiled. "I knew you'd like him. He's a bit different from any nutcracker I've ever seen, but…different in a good way." she put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Let me see him!" Bizack exclaimed pulling at the toy.

"No way!"

The adults watched as Asuka struggled to keep her new toy away from her brother, who was pulling on his arm quite hard.

Then they heard a snap.

"Bizack!"

The ten year-old released his grip at the sound of his grandfather's voice.

"You know better than to do that sort of thing! Now come," the old man said, grabbing the boy by the arm. "You're going to bed early!"

"But Gramps-"

"Don't 'But Gramps' me young man! Upstairs! Now!"

As the men escorted the boy upstairs, Asuka held her nutcracker close. It wasn't fair that her brother broke everything she got. Why couldn't she just have something that he didn't ruin?

"It's okay." She said, tearing a bit of her dress off for a makeshift-sling. "I'll keep you from him."

"I knew you'd keep him safe" Mira said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I hope you find someone like him."

Asuka blushed. This wasn't the first time Mira Jane has tried to get her to talk about a boy. But she'd never been one for romance. The only boys she'd ever talked to were boys that'd she'd been friends with a long time ago. But they moved away before they all started school.

"That's enough Mir," Laxus chided, giving the girl her space. "You can play matchmaker with Asuka when she's older. Maybe next year even."

But what no one suspected, was Mira was already playing her matchmaking game.

Asuka came down a little later in a pair of black boy shorts, a green sports jersey, her green army cap, a pair of black fingerless gloves, and a pair of black suede boots. This was her normal attire since she hated all the frills. But when her grandfather insisted…

"Well you look better." Mira stated from her seat, handing the girl her nutcracker.

"Yeah." Asuka replied, sitting on the floor again. "I never really was one for dresses."

"That's true." Mira turned serious. "Shall I tell you a story?"

"Sure."

Mira got situated. "This is the story behind your amulet. As before I found it, it belonged to a royal family."

"Oh come on Mira, it did not."

"Oh believe me it did." She stared into the flames. "The kingdom was called Ninjago-a land ruled by the elements Fire, Ice, Lightening, Earth, Water, Metal, Light, Speed, Smoke, Mind, Gravity, Nature, Sound, Poison, Shadow, Form, Amber and Energy. Very few could wield these elements, and those of Energy were extremely rare. So they were treated as the royal family."

Asuka sat up, becoming interested in this story.

"The kingdom was ruled by a wise and just man for many years. He had two children. A son, and a daughter. Their mother had died in giving birth to the girl."

The sixteen year-old looked into the flames, almost making out a pair of children playing and laughing.

"But then their father died, leaving them all alone."

The scene turned somber. The children now stood side by side at a grave, clutching each other's hands tightly as a dark figure stood behind them.

"No one knew how he died, but it was believed the king died peacefully. To protect his sister though, the brother gave his sister the royal pendant to protect her until he could find someone stronger than him to protect her."

Her amulet came into sight.

"The years rolled by quickly after that. By the prince was eighteen and the princess sixteen, the princess had many admirers, but only one had claimed victory; The Master of Earth. It seemed like there would be happiness in Ninjago once more."

The scene shifted. The pair were older now, and another man was with them. The man and the princess were a laughing together while her brother watched from a distance, smiling at his sister's happiness.

"But then, everything spiraled."

A pair of glowing red eyes overtook the scene.

"The old king's advisor-a serpentine snake called Pythor-wanted the princess and the crown for himself. So he cast a spell on the couple; driving them apart forever."

The princess and her lover were swept up into a tornado and pulled apart.

"You've told me about the Serpentine before Mira Jane." Asuka stated, looking back at her godmother. "But I didn't know one was that powerful."

"Well this one was." Mira Jane sadly replied. "His servant-the Master of Wind,-was the one who drove them apart though."

Asuka looked into the flames again to see a young man controlling the whirlwind.

"The Master of Earth was cursed into a monstrous form and had his memory of his beloved taken from him; making it easy for Pythor to control him."

She watched while the man from before changed into a creature of great ferocity. Any humanity he ever had was gone.

"While the princess was forced into a deep sleep; only to awaken when either her will was weak, or her beloved returned to her.

The princess's eyes were forced shut and her body went limp.

"The prince was furious. He demanded that the advisor return them both to the way they were."

The prince and Pythor stared at each other, then drew their blades.

"Pythor refused."

The swords clashed as the flames rose high.

"No one knows how long the battle lasted. It could've been hours to days to weeks. All anyone knows for sure…is that when the battle ended, the prince was gone."

The flames of the battle lowered, revealing the snake as the winner.

"Pythor was named the Snake King and renamed Ninjago Ouroboros; the name of the long lost city the Serpentine populated many centuries ago. The people suffered."

The screams of many people rang in her ears.

"But what about the amulet?" Asuka asked, finally turning away from the fire for good. "It should've protected the princess right?"

Mira nodded. "You're right it should have. But the princess tossed it off. Whatever happened to her lover, she wanted it to happen to her as well."

"How loyal." Asuka looked down at the trinket. "Do you think it has any powers now?"

"I'm not sure." Mira Jane replied, getting up from her seat. "But what I do know, is that it's late, and we should get to bed."

"Oh all right." Asuka sighed getting up. "Just let me put my nutcracker away in the cabinet."

As the woman nodded, the teenager wandered over to the glass cabinet where she and her brother kept her toys. From soldiers to dolls. Her two favorites were a soccer doll she called Kyna, and a snowboarder named Soula.

"Well girls," she said, opening the cabinet. "Looks like you're having company tonight." She lifted the nutcracker onto the shelf her toys were on. "Good night."

Just before she closed the cabinet, she swore she'd seen her nutcracker wink. Then she shook her head of that notion.

"Ya know, I think you know more about that story than Mira does." She uttered, looking the toy in the eye. "Who knows? Maybe one day you'll tell me."