Chapter 6 True Potential

The next few weeks whipped by. I barely had time to think about the clock between homework and mastering spells. I still hadn't come close to unlocking my elemental powers, unlike my classmates. Some of them had managed to conjure up whispers of their elements. Even Jay had managed to create a few sparks. I wasn't faring much better in any of my other classes either.

The one thing I had to look forward to was my lunches in the library. Cole, Jay, Zane and I had made of habit of eating in the library so we could sit together. In the dinning hall, we were stuck with our houses. We talked and exchanged homework answers. We almost forgot the clock, a distant shadow in our minds.

I was still failing Elemental Magic on my own, so I started tutoring with Zane. He tried to help find my inner peace, but I couldn't look inside myself at all. All I could see was clouds and darkness.

I sighed. "Zane, this isn't working," I told him during one of our lessons.

Zane looked at me. "Correct."

"Not helping," I muttered.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"Nothing. So what should I do? I'm practically failing the class."

"Why don't you ask Master Wu?" he suggested.

"Okay," I replied. I felt better having a plan in place.

The next day after class, I approached Wu. "Master, I need help. I just can't seem to unlock my elemental powers."

He took a sip of tea before replying. "One must look within to reach their true potential. We all have obstacles we must overcome."

I gritted my teeth. "Can you show me how to do that?"

Wu poured himself some more tea. "It is a journey you must make on your own." I clenched my fists. "But," he continued. "If you insist, meet me here after your last class."

I smiled. "Thank you, Master Wu."

I spent the rest of the day looking forward to my one on one lesson with Wu. I was finally going to unlock my elemental powers! Not even Professor Nuero could get me down. Sure my pencil looked more like a long stick than it did a spear, but that was beside the point. I was making progress. On the bright side, Chen's didn't look any better than mine.

I practically ran down the hallways to room 102. I didn't have to look at the map anymore. The once massive school was starting to feel like home. I pushed open the door and ran in panting.

"Master Wu," I said in between breaths, "I'm here."

Not surprisingly, he was boiling a pot of tea. "Sit down, Kai. Have some tea."

I wasn't sure what tea had to do with anything, but he was giving me private instructions, so I decided to humor him. I sat down across from the sensei and accepted a cup of hot tea. I took a sip and set it down.

"So what should I do, Master?"

Master Wu frowned. "Patience, Kai. The forest didn't grow in a day. Calm your mind."

I sighed. I had already done several of these exercises with Zane, but I forced down my impatience and drank some more tea. It really was delicious. I tried to let my mind float away in the peacefulness of the sensei's room.

"Now what?"

Master Wu chuckled. "Don't rush things, Kai. Anything worth having is worth waiting for."

I frowned. I could tell this wasn't going to be the quick fix I hoped for. I really wanted my elemental powers though, so I decided to give his way a shot.

I finished my cup of tea and thanked Master Wu for his time.

"Of course," he replied.

Something in tea had relaxed me and improved my focus. I finished my homework in record time. I couldn't believe it! I had to get his recipe.

That night, I drifted easily to sleep. It didn't stop me from dreaming though.

I found myself in the same dark room. All the lights in the ceiling were broken, leaving only the luminous gold of the clock to cast a little glow. I noticed that the minute hand was closer to the skull than normal. It appeared to be only three minutes away. I backed away slowly. Something evil was coming.

Laughter echoed around the room. "Your time is almost up, Kai Umas."

I tripped and fell, but I still kept scooting backward. I didn't ask how it knew my name. All I cared about was getting out of here, but like usual; I was trapped in this room.

"Get ready to meet your new Overlord," the voice continued.

My heart pounded. I looked around for an exit, but there was none. I pushed myself up to my feet. Two minutes 'til its release. I was used to this nightmare. All I had to do was wake up and it would end. Wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP!

One minute. It was getting harder to catch my breath. My dream had never lasted this long before. I was trapped. Dark hands came from the clock, grabbing me, choking me. I couldn't breathe.

30 seconds.

20 seconds.

10.

9.

The last thing I saw was the skull, laughing at my weakness as the darkness took me.

I woke up in a flash. I still couldn't breathe. I panicked and floundered around in bed. I threw off the sheets and pushed my face out of my pillow. I inhaled and devoured the sweet taste of air. I breathed a sigh of relief. I must have buried myself into my pillow sometime during the night. It was just a dream. That dark Overlord couldn't kill me.

Still, I couldn't fall back asleep.

The next morning, I drank two cups of coffee. During Elemental Magic, I thought my hands got a little warmer, but maybe it was just wishful thinking. Frustration built in my chest. Next to me, Jay managed to power a small light bulb with his electricity. On the other side, Chen had lit three candles.

I growled. Why couldn't I produce flames? It seemed I was going back to Master Wu again.

That afternoon, I slumped down in my seat across from Wu and started pouring myself some tea. I closed my eyes, and tried to relax.

I saw the dark room with the gold clock in front of me. Tick. Tick. Tick. It was almost at the skull…

I opened my eyes in a flash. These dreams were getting worse.

"What's the matter, Kai?" Master Wu asked.

"Nothing," I answered quickly. I wasn't ready to tell any of the adults about this yet.

He frowned, but didn't press it. "Your spirit is turbulent. You would do well to dispel the storm inside."

I sighed. I tried to let go of my feelings of frustration and fear and calm down. It wasn't easy though. I kept thinking about Chen or the clock, which riled me up all over again.

"Master Wu, I just can't do it."

He set down his cup of tea. "Hmmm. Can't? Or won't?"

"What?"

"An obstacle is blocking your path to peace. Only when you remove that obstacle will you unlock your true potential."

"What obstacle? Tell me, Master."

Wu sighed. "Your stubbornness. It clouds your mind and impairs your elemental power. Let go, Kai, if you wish to reach your true potential."

"But how do I do that?" I begged.

"I can't give you all the answers. You must discover these things for yourself."

I left the room angry and no closer to my elemental power. Let go of your stubbornness. Hah! Easy for you to say. I didn't dare say that to his face, but I wanted to so bad.

The following day, I tried to calm myself down before I tried to use my elemental powers. A small spark danced across my fingers. Shock flooded me. I did it! It wasn't a full flame, but I was making progress. I smiled. Master Wu was right after all.

I bragged about it during lunch. Even though my friends were way ahead of me, they still congratulated me and seemed genuinely happy for me. I applied the same strategy in Transfiguration, and I managed to make a halfway believable spear. Things were looking up for me.

That night, I didn't have any dreams either.

I continued to have my lessons with Master Wu because I still couldn't make a full flame. Weeks flew by and I was still way behind the rest of my classmates. Next week was summer break, and I still could barely light a candle.

I came into room 102 like usual. I cleared my mind and worked on calming myself down. After an hour or so, I got up. It was time to go.

Before I left, Master Wu asked me a question. "What are you doing for break, Kai?"

I didn't expect this. Sensei seemed so separated from the students that I wasn't prepared for a personal question. Especially this one. I wasn't even sure myself.

"I wanted to go home to see my sister, but I'm afraid to face my foster parents."

Master Wu nodded. "Do you miss your sister?"

I sighed. "Of course. This is the longest we've been apart."

Wu smiled. "And since she can't come to the school, this would be your only chance to see her for a while."

I saw what Wu was getting at, but his words had the opposite effect on me. Nya couldn't come to school. She would never understand that. If I came back, she would want to follow me, no matter what I said. And once she knew the secret of the veil protecting the school, there would be no stopping her. As much as it pained me, it would be better if I didn't come home in the first place. I would send her another letter, but that would be it.

I thanked Master Wu for his time and left. I couldn't concentrate on my homework. I kept thinking about Nya. Finally, I couldn't stand it any longer. I walked out of the dormitory and headed to the Owlery. It took me several tries, but I finally wrote a letter explaining the situation to my little sister. I told her I missed her and hoped to see her soon.

I tied the letter to the leg of Great Grey and watched it become a dot in the distance. I noticed the sun was setting.

I wrapped up the last of my essays and then went to bed. The minute hand was closer now. The shadows were thicker. The laughter was louder. Time was running out. Somehow, we had to figure out what that clock was before it was too late.

At lunch, I decided to ask the others about their plans for break.

"I'm going home to see my parents," Jay told me.

"The junkyard in the middle of nowhere, right?" Cole asked.

Jay frowned. "It's not in the middle of nowhere. It's just ten miles south of the city."

"Practically nowhere," Cole replied.

I hurried to change the subject. "What about you, Cole? Are you going home?"

Cole laughed. "No way! My dad thinks I'm going to a musical school on the other side of Ninjago. If I come home, he'll start asking me questions and figure out that I've been lying to him. And if that happens," he shuddered. "I'm dead."

I laughed too. "I guess we'll be spending break together then."

Jay looked at me in surprise. "You're not going home?"

I shook my head. "No. If I go home, Nya will never let me go back without her. I have to stay here."

"If you say so," Jay replied.

"And you're going to your father's place, right, Zane?" Cole asked.

Zane nodded. Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. This would be the last time we all saw each other before break. I said goodbye to the others and left for Charms class. Before I did though, I wanted to ask Zane a question.

"While you're researching over break, can you look something else up for me?"

"Of course. What is it?"

I hesitated. "Someone called the Overlord." I had heard the name several times in my nightmares and it was bugging me.

"I will," he replied.

I felt instantly better. "Thanks, Zane." Now I could worry about other things.

The rest of the day, I kept thinking about Nya. I decided that I would send her another letter tonight. Although the school was starting to feel like home, it could never replace the kinship we shared. I wondered how I was going to survive the rest of the year.

That night, instead of being in the clock room, I was sitting at the dining room table. I was eating Karin's food with Nya at my side. After dinner, we left the table and went up to my room. We laughed and shared secrets under the cover of darkness. I told her all about my experiences at school, and she told me about the mischief she had gotten into while I was gone. I told Nya I loved her. She gave me a hug and told me she loved me too.

I woke up smiling.

AN: In case any of you were wondering, I am putting some Japanese elements in here, as it seemed fitting. In the Japanese system, school starts in April. Then they get a summer break. Reviews are always welcome!