Chapter 10; the Black of Night

Following Zane, the ninja looked down into the cold waters beside the bounty. Cole glared at the red ninja.

"I get how worried you are for Cece, but Kai, you did not have to blame it on Emma." Cole said.

Kai looked at Cole with a fire in his eyes, "Why can't I blame her? She saw all of this coming and did nothing to stop it!"

"Think about it Kai," Jay put his hand on his shoulder, "She couldn't do anything. If she did stop it, she would not have seen the real future in the first place."

"If I was in her place, I would have done everything I could. She did not even try or even warn us." Kai said, "What if she did nothing because she was secretly against us the whole time?"

"She would have been quite the actor." Lloyd said.

"Kai, why do you doubt her?" The ninja turned to see the Nya followed by Cece and Anne, "why do not have faith in Emma? Do you even know what is going into her head? How could she just fake all that pain?" Nya continued, "Would that be really necessary?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but where is Zane?" Anne asked.

"He's meditating underwater. He can hold his breath underwater for like ten minutes." Lloyd said.

"What about his power-core?" Cece asked. Jay's eyes widened.

"I totally forgot about that! He should be up by now!" Jay said. At that very moment to everyone's relief, Zane's head popped out of the water. Jay turned around as the ninja looked up at everyone. "Are you okay, Zane?"

Zane sounded out of breath, "Yeah, I am. I might need some help to get back on deck." They used Anne's rope to help him up. Exhausted, he leaned against the rail.

Walking up behind him, Kai put a hand on the nindroid's shoulder, "I'm sorry Zane… about what I said." Zane turned around to look at Kai.

"Its fine." He said, "We need to stop her as soon as possible."

"We should attack now, Nya." Cole said, "They would not expect it. We will also have the advantage of the night. Emma does not know when we will figure out her hiding place… I hope so at least."

Everyone was gathered in the bridge. Heating was cranked up. Out the window, was the desert and The City of Ouroboros was near the horizon. Everyone agreed with Cole.

"Jay, Kai, Lloyd and I will get a head start on the bounty and search for Laura. Zane, Nya, Cece, and Anne will stay at the bounty for back up. If we are caught, we will need a way out of the dragon's den."

"How will we deal with Emma?" Anne asked.

"We are going to try to take her here." Jay said, "We were going to keep her prisoner until we find a cure."

Cole asked "Any more questions?" The room was silent.

Collapsing on the bed, Skales felt exhaustion overwhelm him. Yet he could not fall asleep. His mind was so busy; he began to talk to himself after reciting the thoughts over and over again in his mind.

"That weapon was a big mistake. It backfired. I cannot control Emma like I can everyone else. What was I thinking when I chose her to fire at first?"

A dark shape appeared out of nowhere. When two black pits were right in front of his face, Skales' red eyes widened. Sharp teeth grinned. "You were supposed to despise Emma. Because you despised her, you chose her to transform into a serpentine." Emma stood back up straight. Skales glared at her in anger.

"Can't I have my privacy!?" Skales asked.

Emma gave him a fake pout. "Fine, be that way…" Skales was surprised when she actually left. However thinking about how she could just pop out of nowhere at any time, Skales could not sleep.

The sky was black. There were only a couple faint stars in the sky and it was a new moon. Because they were not very close to the city, Zane thought it was strange. On the deck, the four ninja were preparing to leave. However as they were looking out at the dark desert, they saw a figure walking towards them. They could not see her until she was on the deck. Another figure appeared behind her.

Since Nya was on the upper level of the ship, she turned on the spot lights. Emma put her hands over her eyes. "The light, it burns! It burns!" The ninja were shocked. Emma tugged on the rope that tied Laura's hands together. Blindfolded, she stumbled forward.

"Laura!" Lloyd said.

"Well no da, it is her." Emma said, "I wanted to see how you all were doing since I have seen you last." Emma began to untie Laura's ropes, "and to give someone back." Emma pushed her forward again and she tripped.

After Lloyd rushed to help Laura up, he looked up at Emma, "What did you do to her?!"

Emma looked at him innocently, "Nothing! What did I need to do?" Emma gestured at the shaking kunoichi.

Lloyd untied Laura's blindfold. Her hazel eyes looked into his grassy green eyes. Suddenly, Laura hugged him. Lloyd for a few moments was too shocked to do anything. Slowly, he returned the affection. Being this close to her, Lloyd noticed she smelt slightly of cocoa. Finally having her back, he smiled in relief. Despite the cold night, Laura was very warm. Slowly and awkwardly, Laura detached herself from Lloyd.

Laura looked at Lloyd. "Did she do anything to you?" he asked.

Laura shook her head no. "Were you worried… about me?" Laura asked.

"Of course I was!" Lloyd said, "Who else am I going to read comic books with?" Laura smiled. She did like to read comic books but mostly manga.

"T-thank you Lloyd…" Laura said with downcast eyes. Lloyd blushed at Laura's sweeter-than-candy-voice and smiled wider.

"Aww… you two are so cute…" Emma said. Looking up on top of the deck, Emma grinned. Nya shivered as Emma seemed to look at her with those black eyes. Suddenly, Emma disappeared.

"Huh, looks like there is no need for a rescue mission after all…" Jay said.

"Not so fast Jay," Cole said, "We still have to save Emma."

Since it was dark, the mildly brunette wood appeared to be like trees in a forest at midnight. Laura was happy. She was back. Emma just woke her up in the middle of the night and said "Its time for you to go home…"

Laura was confused. She thought, 'Why did she let me go? What is going on in her head? These assessments must be intense but what are they for?'

As Laura shivered, the cold and desert cradled her skin. Lloyd stood up. Holding his hand out to help her up, Laura looked at it for a second. Hesitant, Laura reached out and grabbed it. It felt a little ruff but not that much more than her hand. On her feet, Laura looked around at everyone else heading inside. Then her stomach growled.

"Hey, Zane" Lloyd said.

"Yes?"

"Do we have any leftover lasagna?"

As she sat on her normal chair in the dinning room since she was a creature of habit, Laura noted the dimness of the room. She felt her eyes droop to the floor, yet her hunger kept her awake. Laura wondered why Lloyd insisted that he microwave it. It would not have been hard for Laura. She knew how to feed herself. However Laura wished she knew how to cook things like Zane. She could work a stove, but she needed instructions and it could not be complicated. Her stomach grumbled again. She was sure that it would have felt quicker to make it herself because normally that is faster than waiting.

Laura looked at the door but could not see Lloyd. To her relief, she heard a ding in the kitchen. With a smile on his face, Lloyd entered the dinning room with a plate of Zane's lasagna. As he traversed the room, Laura waited for Lloyd to put it in front of her. The aroma drove her crazy. Lloyd set it down and Laura immediately started eating. While she ate, she noticed Lloyd sit next to her in his normal seat.

"Um… Laura… would it be okay if I asked why you have so many panic attacks?"

Laura stopped eating and looked at him, "Why?"

"Yeah"

Laura looked away from Lloyd. She looked at her hands that were wringing together. They felt like skeleton hands. "Well… um, I'm not completely sure. I think there would be a lot of reasons though…" Laura began to eat again.

"Okay…" Lloyd watched Laura eat. Watching her eat was all he could do besides leave. He did not feel that was right. Laura had not seen him or anyone else for a while. Lloyd did not want to leave her alone. "You know… I will never let what happened to Emma… happen to you…" he said. Laura looked at him but could not respond because she was chewing her food. However when she was done chewing, she chose not to say anything. Laura sat up.

Grabbing her finished plate scrapped free of all the wonderful sauce, Laura stood up and started to walk into the kitchen. Placing the dish carefully in the sink, she turned around and looked at the door to the dinning room. She walked to the door and turned off the kitchen light on her way out. She gripped the door frame.

"What can you do to prevent that…?" she asked.

Lloyd did not know how to prevent something like what happened to Emma to happen to Laura. He sat in his normal seat at the edge of the table in silence.

"I'll try to protect you the best I can…" Lloyd sighed, "I am the golden ninja after all."

"Thank you…" Laura said and yawned.

Laura and Lloyd left the dinning room. Laura walked a little slower on purpose. When they reached the Cosmic Legion's bedroom door, Laura grasped the doorknob and looked into Lloyd's grassy green eyes. "Goodnight… Lloyd." She said and opened the door.

"Goodnight, Laura." Lloyd said watching Laura enter the room.

While it was not a surprise with the lights being on, Laura smiled seeing the Cosmic Legion still awake. Sitting on Emma's bed, Anne and Nya were talking. Cece stepped out of the bathroom drying her hair with a towel. That was when she sensed something different about the mood. When Cece sat on her bed, she looked Laura in the eye and something seemed missing. Laura turned her head to Anne and Nya with a troubled expression.

"Did something happen?" Laura asked softly.

Anne looked at Laura and then to Cece. Her eyes and countenance were somber.

"Yeah… in attempt to find you, we went to the Hypnobrai tombs. It was a trap and we all got separated. Emma stabbed Kai in the back and Cece had to heal him. But to heal him, she gave up her emotions. It was all for some assessment. Emma wanted Cece to let him… die." Anne explained. Laura looked to Cece.

"I-I am so sorry! If I did not let Emma kidnap me—"

"It is not your fault, Laura." Cece said calmly but emotionless, "It was not your fault."

"But—"

"No, buts, you want to take a shower don't you?"

"Yeah… okay." Laura said. Quickly walking to the bathroom, she shut the door unintentionally louder than she would have liked.

In Laura's opinion, the shower head did not pour enough water forcefully enough for her tastes. Nonetheless, the hot water on her tan skin felt amazing. She could not help but take a while. She began to space out. 'I feel so guilty… People worry a lot for me… I'm not very used to it. It was all my fault too… they were going to find me! Cece said it was not my fault but I still feel guilty and sad about it. Lloyd too… he seemed to worry about me a lot while I was gone… and when Acidicus stabbed me… he saved my life… How can I repay everyone?'

Realizing she was taking too long, Laura jumped out of the shower after washing her hair and dried herself with a towel. She got in her pajamas and left the bathroom. The lights were off so she quickly dashed to her bed. She felt her wet hair soak water into the pillow but ignored it as she fell asleep in no time.

I am really sorry for not updating weekly! I am trying to finish this story up but it is getting hard because I am lacking inspiration. Thanks to everyone reading!

SergeantSarcasm7 at your service!