Crystal, being the early bird she was, arrived at the docks 10 minutes early, only to realise that everybody was already there. Well, not everyone. The ninja weren't there, but that's to be expected. Using this extra time to study everyone, she immediately noticed two major objectives, that may or may not be problematic in the future.
One, every single person on the boat was older than her, the youngest on the boat – other than her – looked around 15 or 16, and the oldest looked about 20. Also, if she remembered correctly, the ninjas were all older than her as well, Jay was 15, Kai was 17, Cole was 19 and Zane was 18. Lloyd… Crystal wasn't sure about him. If you counted the years that he has been living, then he would be 13 as well, a month or two older than her. However, if this is after he was forced to suddenly enlarged by Tomorrow's Tea, then she would guess that he was around 18 or 19.
Another thing that could possibly put her at a disadvantage is the fact that they are all wearing fancy armoured costumes, which in her opinion, looked wayyyyy out of fashion. However, it wasn't the fashion that counted. The fact that their clothing had protections and stuff, it meant that it would be harder to battle against them. All Crystal wore was her trademark white sneakers, black leggings, a silver tank top and a purple sweater.
But, an advantage that she had was her weapons. She bet that none of the others had any weapons they could sneak in with, seeing as it was likely that their weapons do not magically transform into accessories. Oh, and she also had her watch.
The ninja chose that moment to arrive, whispering to Garmadon, presumedly about the tournament. Crystal took one glance at them before sighing internally. She couldn't believe that she didn't see this sooner! Not even having a little suspicion about ninjago being real whilst all the facts were laced out in front of her.
Flinching, she thought back to her past few weeks, shifting through every memory that had clues of her being in ninjago.
First, there was the fact that the village she had resided in was called Jamanakai, and there were the occasional conversations between villagers that were either about the ninja or Garmadon which she dismissed as mishearing. She supposed that she knew about it for a while, subconsciously, but her conscious mind had been too afraid to acknowledge that fact.
She made her way onto the ship, making sure to stay in the shadows as to not be seen. It would be best to keep a low profile for now, as she didn't need unwanted attention. It was best best to be but off by others as useless or unimportant. Not threatening in their rise to fame. Having others underestimate her would give her the element of surprise later on. (HA! Get it? Element of surprise? "ELEMENT"? Hehe, sorry for the pun. Couldn't resist.)
Giving a one shot at observing her surroundings, she sprinted forwards when nobody was looking. Using her momentum, she lunged, flinging herself off the ground and latching herself onto the flagpole, gripping tightly. Quickly, yet firmly, she climbed up, before hauling herself up onto a platform that she had located from the ground. Letting a small smirk grace her lips, she cherished the fact that it was impossible for anyone to see her, whist she could observe anyone she wanted. She spent the rest of the ride up there.
When the boat glided to a stop, Crystal waited for the other champions to leave the ship, before agilely leaping off the platform in a front flip, landing on a signpost and sliding down. Landing softly on her toes, she brushed off the non-existent dirt on her front, finally grateful for all the years of dance and gymnastics she had. She never knew that grace and flexibility would help her in life threatening situations.
Quietly slipping into the large building, she silently followed the other champions. Taking a seat at the very end of the table filled to the brim with food, Crystal sat up straight with her hands in her lap, carefully molding her expression to become a polite, sweet smile.
Some of the champions noticed her now that she wasn't hiding, but most dismissed her as a incompetent child, or at least something similar. Oh well. Better for her. She was brought out of her thoughts when a loud, obnoxious voice filled the room.
"Welcome to the Tournament of Elements! Now all of you will DIE – " Chen paused dramatically, gasps of shock and horror reflecting around the room, whilst Crystal barely managed to stop herself from rolling her eyes. " – rect your attention to me!
"Never had so many elemental fighters been under one roof! I see master of shadow, speed, and even a prophesied, green saviour." His voice was high with excitement, probably thinking of the fact that he would soon have all of our elemental powers, and become unbeatable.
Wait.
Crystal paused. What was my elemental power, again? I didn't really know about it until I got the letter. Blinking, she stored that question away for later, turning her attention to Chen for now, who had just turned to Garmadon. "And a former pupil has returned…" Chen mused, causing Crystal to tense slightly, before quickly relaxing herself.
Then he turned around, and finally directed our attention to something other than himself; his gong. Though, that wasn't much better, Crystal thought with distain.
"The symbol before you is the Anacondrai, the fiercest, most powerful serpentine warriors to ever roam this land. It's motto… only one can remain!"
A servant of his walked up, and loudly banged the gong. This seemed to activate something, as the tournament matches popped out. I noticed that I was going against Karloff, master of metal. However, it was likely that he would be the first to fail, like in the TV show, and then I would be facing… Shade. I would be facing Shade.
Internally cursing, I prepared for my incoming doom. There was no way that I would win against him. He can blend into the shadows, for gods sake! And what can I do? Pretend to be pretty and innocent and hope he lets me win?
Pursing my lips, I calmed myself down. I would be able to use my element. I would just have to find out what it was, first. I would be fine. And even if I don't figure it out, he would tell me about what it is during my fight, right?
Chen interrupted my inner turmoil. "Behold, a jade blade!" He said, dramatically lifting one up in the air. "Here it represents life, obtain it and move on. Allow your opponent to take it… LOSER! The rules are simple, every match would be different, no two fights will be the same. Use it or lose it!"
Karloff butted in on the one sided conversation. "What does Karloff win?"
Chen smirked. "Win… and stay on the island. Win it all, and receive fortunes beyond your wild test dreams, as well as a lifetime supply of Master Chen Noodles!" Crystal almost blanched. "But, no one is here for the noodles, you want the glory of being the best fighter in all of Ninjago!"
A loud cheer erupted through the crowd, and Crystal reluctantly joined in, if only to keep her cover. She spotted the ninja using her peripheral vision, and not even one of them were cheering. In fact, they seemed to be on the edge of blowing up in anger, with everything about Zane. Crystal felt a touch of sympathy for them, but it was gone before she could recognise it.
Finally, Garmadon stepped up. "And what happens if you lose?" He questioned.
Chen looked at him with fake confusion on his face, which was ruined by his large smirk. "Lose? Who here likes to lose!" Another round of laughter echoed around the room, and Crystal was once again forced to join in.
"Now, please enjoy my island. It's a super fun, happy place!" Chen sang, "Fun time on me!" He said, before rushing off to do who knows what.
Clouse, seeing his master's dismissal, took charge of the situation. "Please lead the elemental to their respective rooms." He droned in a monotone voice, filled with the slightest of distaste.
The kabuki came and one of them lead Crystal to a room, opening the grand door. "Your room, Miss Moon." She stated, before walking away.
Crystal observed her room with barely contained amazement. The roof was black with stars, and reflected the night sky. The walls were a deep amethyst, and the floor was covered in a white carpet. The bed, along with the other furniture, were made of silver, as well as the single moon on the roof. Sighing in contempt, Crystal collapsed on her bed, the soft, purple bedsheets brushing against her skin.
Maybe being here won't be so bad. This single room was about ten times larger than the tent she owned, and the bed was the softest she had ever laid on. She dearly wanted to go to sleep, but she knew that in an hour or so there would be the search for fang blades. Sitting up, Crystal grabbed a random book from the bookshelf next to her bed, before looking at the title.
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."
Her eyes widened in delight. She hadn't read a fantasy novel in sooo long! Opening to the first page, she allowed herself to become immersed in the story. (Warning! Spoiler alert.) Her surroundings seemed to fade away as she became one with the story, imagining the dusted wall, chicken blood painted on it, the sounds of kids screaming in fear, whilst Dumbledore came to the rescue, declaring that Ms Norris was in fact not dead. (Spoiler over.)
Her wonderful break from reality was broken as Chen's annoying voice sounded throughout the building.
"Hello? HELLO! The microphone is working, yes?"
Somewhere in the background, you could hear Clouse's annoyed reply. "Yes, master. The microphone is on."
"Oh goody! *hem hem* Hidden around my island are several jade blade. There is enough for everyone, apart from one. The one who returns to the palace arena empty handed loses! The tournament begins… NOW!" Chen explained in excitement.
Biting back a groan, Crystal gently folded the corner of the page she was reading, before gently putting it down. She really didn't like doing so, and she thought of it as a violation to the books, but there was no other option right now. She didn't expect Chen to be considerate enough to get her bookmarks.
She rushed outside, only to come face to face with a lot of commotion. Having spotted a jade blade in the corner of her eyes, she slowly backed up in that direction, widening her eyes in terror. Coming to a stop, she grasped the jade blade from behind her back, before sprinting in the arena with the jade blade tucked in her sweater, hidden from the sights of other contestants.
Slipping the blade in one of the holders, she let herself relax, creeping into the dark corner to observe the other contestants.
As she expected, as soon as Karloff came into the room, Kai came zooming from behind and snatched the jade blade out of his hand, winning it for himself. Crystal sighed with disappointment. That was a very unfair thing that Kai had did, and it wasn't right.
She watched with sad eyes as Karloff was cast out of the tournament, where he would soon have his powers stolen from him, as well as being forced to work in the noodle factory.
After they were dismissed, Crystal swiftly trudged back to her room, and rested on her bed, hoping to sleep. It didn't work, as images of Karloff losing his powers trickled into her mind, which was soon followed by other elementals. Sighing, she opened her book, and resumed from where she left off.
After all, it was the only distraction she had at the moment.