Hi. Sorry this took so long.
The shadow person gazes down at me, the gold dots in her eyes flicking back and forth between me and the other ninja. Finally, I snap out of my daze and shake the others awake. They awake with sighs and groans, but it doesn't take them long to see the shadow's mysterious figure standing at the foot of our bed.
"Holy shit." Kai breathes. Cole and Zane don't say anything, but the shadow seems satisfied once Misako and Sensei Wu wake. She turns, then stands at the door. I groggily get out of the bed.
"What the hell..." Cole whispers.
Follow. Urgent. Gather. Belongings.
I start getting what little stuff I brought with me stuffed in my backpack. The others do the same, then we turn to her.
Follow.
The shadow turns, then she walks out of the old building. I know the others are tired, but I drag myself along. If this shadow means finding Nya, then I'll push through anything.
She walks over to where the old Ninjago prison was. It's destroyed now, but some of the ceiling is still intact. She stops at the front.
As. Far. As. I. Go. Inside. Now. Great. Help.
Just after I blink, she's gone.
"Where'd she go?" Kai asks.
"What the hell?!" Cole says.
"I sense that was a spirit of memory." Sensei says. "We should listen to her."
"She lead us to the prison," Zane says, "what could have happened here?"
Suddenly, I'm filled with a cold determination to find Nya. I grit my teeth.
"Who knows?" I say. "Let's find out."
So, with that, I go inside, not caring if the others follow me or not. I pick my way through the dirt and rubble, wondering what happened here. After making my way through the debris, I approach a hallway of cells.
"Overlord. There had to of been a fight here." Cole says. I nod.
"Guys!" Zane yells from ahead of us. We rush over to where he is. He's standing in front of what looks like a computer. Its screen is cracked, but the hard drive appears to be intact. Zane takes it out, then he inserts the hard drive into his processor. A few moments, later, he projects the data with his eyes onto a cracked wall.
There's a picture of a person. They don't look familiar. Next to their picture is a description.
Name: Ruby Sky
DOB: Unknown
Crime(s) Committed: Resistance
Punishment(s) Assigned: 10 Year Sentence
"This is a data file of all the prisoners held in here a few months after we saw the security footage of Lloyd and Nya," Zane said. "None of these files are surprising. except..." He frowned, then the projection changed to that of a red-headed woman. She looked pretty beat up.
Then I realize that it's Skylor.
"Skylor?!" Kai asks.
The description of her reads:
Name: Skylor Chen
DOB: Unknown
Crime(s) Committed: Resistance & Treason
Punishment(s) Assigned: 25 Year Sentence
"What?!" Cole asks.
"She's not the only one," Zane says. The projection changes again to a buff man with orange-red hair. He's wearing an eyepatch.
"Ronin?" Of course, everyone's less surprised.
Name: Ronin (real name unknown)
DOB: Unknown
Crime(s) Committed: Resistance, Treason, Stealing, Murder.
Punishment(s) Assigned: 35 Year Sentence
"That's not all," Zane says. The screen changes to...
...a dirty, young woman with long, black hair that's tangled in knots, ghostly white skin, and dark eyes.
Oh my overlord...
...it can't be...
Name: Nya Smith
DOB: Unknown
Crime(s) Committed: Resistance, Treason, Usage/Selling of Illegal Substances, Murder, Stealing.
Punishment(s) Assigned: Life Sentence & "Mental Test"
The tears are threatening to take over my vision again. I wipe them away, unable to believe it. Murder? Stealing? Illegal Substances?!
"This can't be true. Murder?! Illegal substances?! Nya would never..." I sniff, unable to comfort myself.
"One more." Zane says. The projection changes again.
Blonde hair caked with dirt. Green eyes unusually dull.
"Lloyd!" Misako yells. Sensei embraces her as tears stream down her cheeks.
Name: Lloyd M. Garmadon
DOB: Unknown
Crime(s) Committed: Resistance & Treason
Punishment(s) Assigned: 25 Year Sentence
"This is...real data."
"Something is fucked up here." Cole says, gritting his teeth and pointing to the projection. It turns off.
"It also has the location of their cells," Zane says.
Kai remains unnaturally quiet. To be honest, I don't blame him.
"Let's go look at the cells." I whisper.
I have to wipe off my tears. I have to stay strong. Why Nya and Lloyd did those things...I don't know but there has to be a good reason for it. They would never do anything like that.
But times had changed for them. Had they changed? And, if so, in a good or bad way?
We find their cells. Skylor and Ronin's are completely empty. Lloyd's cell is empty except for one thing.
A journal. Misako picks it up. It's a one-subject composition notebook. On the front is his name in his own handwriting.
"A journal?" Kai asks.
Miskako shrugs. Her eyes are hard, yet reflective. She opens it.
"Let's find out."
I'm thinking about changing the title to this. I might. Not yet, though.