(Late ish update BUT it's still the weekend, so technically on time! I felt. . . A lot of emotions while writing this so be warned. . . Now I hope you enjoy!)

Chapter 25-Ten burning with pain

For a few seconds, absolute panic swirled through her brain. She couldn't think. Casey's words and Lloyd's eyes were still pounding in her head. The green ninja had labeled her as a traitor with his green eyes. No one would trust her ever again. And no one would protect her from Casey when she came to get rid of her.

Then Nadya stopped, taking in a deep breath and waiting for her brain to stop shooting images.

She wouldn't be labeled as anything. Zane hadn't heard Casey's words. No one else but Lloyd had heard them. She could tell the guys where Casey had most likely taken the green ninja. She could rescue Lloyd. Then he'd see that Casey was lying.

"Yes," She breathed in. "I'll be just fine."

Lloyd blinked, forcing his eyes to grow accustomed to the dim lighting. He tried to pry his lips open to shoot insults at the witch, but they would not budge. No matter how hard he forced his vocal chords to make a sound, the most they would manage would be a small whimper.

"Don't even try my dear, my magic is far too advanced for you to do anything about it," Casey shook her head, hair lightly swirling from side to side. She whispered another spell and Lloyd lost the feeling in his legs, making his body crumble onto the ground. "Make this easy for me and I might reconsider killing you."

Lloyd tried to speak again. This time, it came out as a soft growling sound.

"Oh I really shouldn't remove the spell from your lips. . ." Casey leaned back against the heels of her feet. " But then again this is probably the last chance I get to talk to my gorgeous nephew. . ."

With a flick of her slender fingers, the spells was lifted. A loud sigh shuddered through Lloyd's throath. He glued his powerful green eyes against Casey's. " I don't know what you're planning to do with me, Or why you're even like this. I just know that even if you kill me, you won't get away with anything. Good always wins."

"You're so naïve." Casey sighed, rummaging through one of her shelves, which was carved out of the wooden wall. Lloyd frowned. Wood? Just like her tree house. But that couldn't be it. He'd seen it burn to the ground. " Good is the weakest force. Love and care for others always drags heroes to their doom. Even you were more than ready to doom yourself when it came to facing your father. If the overlord hadn't taken him over, you wouldn't have fought. Love would have held you back. And the world would have once again be drawn into chaos."

"That. . . That was different," Lloyd shook his head. " You don't have anybody who loves you. None of us will hesitate to strike."

"You'll strike me." Casey nodded admiring her reflection on the side of a knife. "I might die, I might not. But the moment you use your powers against me. . . Everything will fall into place. ."

". . . And that's when she took Lloyd." Nadya took a deep breath and held it, looking at everyone's eyes after she had finished her tale. " She must have taken him back to her hideout, to get rid of him herself."

"We don't know what hideout she might be using now though," Jay crossed his arms tightly. " Her tree house was burned to the ground."

"It could've been her secret place in the mountains. . .That's where she took me when we. . . you know worked together." Nya's shoulders were weighed down by the memory.

"No no," Nadya shook her head. " She's at the tree house. The top part may be gone. But the roots aren't. She expanded them using magic, if she's anywhere, she'll be there."

Zane fixed the position of his new battery. " Then there is not any moment for us to lose."

"Zane's right," Cole nodded. " We need to move."

Naomi tugged on the black ninja's suit, making him focus his eyes on her hands. This smells like a trap through and through. How convenient is it that no one but her saw Casey take Lloyd? How come she knows exactly where to go? My- The Lloyd I know wouldn't have been defeated by just one person.

Cole frowned a little. His sister's words made sense. And as a leader, his responsibility was to keep everyone safe. He couldn't lead them all head-first into a trap just because his heart felt a strange connection with Nadya's. Yet, one look into her brown eyes told him everything he needed to know. Those weren't the eyes of a villain. Those were the eyes of someone who was ready to fight against evil.

"No Naomi," Cole half-smiled, his eyebrows arching upward. "We can trust her."

"Anyway!" Casey turned back towards Lloyd. " It's time we move on. We need to start now if I'm ever going to get the chaotic Devil's box."

The green ninja kept his eyes on the knife held up by the witch's hand. " And how exactly are you planning to do that?"

"Find the keys within a rhyme, and the devil's box is near. Find the blood within her life, and the devil's box is here." Casey recited. "Of course, at first I thought that the blood of little Naomi would do the trick. But then I remembered that things are never this simple with prophecies. And then I remembered the way her eyes connect with yours and I just knew you were the blood within her life."

"S-so you need blood," Lloyd stuttered as Casey kneeled beside him. "My blood to be exact. . . Still though. . . What's the point of all this? Why are you so intent on getting that box?

"Because," Casey shrugged. "If I do this, chaos will erupt. That's all I really care about. I can't trust in family, not after my sister left me. I can't trust in love, not after being stabbed in the back. The only thing that's real enough is chaos, And I'll create as much of it as I can before I die."

Lloyd's eyes stared intently at the blade.

"Enough chat," The witch wrapped a spell around Lloyd's arms, making them impossible for him to move. She pressed the knife against the green ninja's throat. "Time to make the little green boy bleed."

Casey slid the knife across the boy's throat. Lloyd blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. Then the pain shuddered through his body, pressing tears against eyes.

Casey stood, releasing the spells on Lloyd's body. Instinctively the green ninja pressed his shaking hand against the open wound. Blood dripped against the ground. The earth tipped sideways in Lloyd's eyes and he fell against the ground, shaking.

Lloyd's thick blood ran through a path Casey had carved on the muddy ground. The red liquid stumbled forward, creating a puddle in a small hole that the witch had dug out. With a small shudder, as if the world itself had sighed, a golden box with 12 locks erupted from the ground.

"It's finally mine." Casey picked up the box, soaking her hands in the green ninja's blood.

"Here!" Nadya shouted as she pulled a small trapped door on the ground open. The serpentine girl hoped it wasn't too late. It had taken them less than an hour to reach the place while riding the bounty. But Casey could've done so much damage in that time. " Come on!"

She was pushed aside as Garmadon dived into the trapdoor, yelling Lloyd's name. He was followed by Misako whose hands had been nervously shaking for the whole trip. Finally, Nadya trotted into the hideout after Cole had stepped inside.

She heard Cole's gasp and she knew something was terribly wrong. She pushed him aside, and Nadya's eyes widened at the sight of so much blood.

"He, He's still alive." Garmadon held his son close and Nadya could see Lloyd's small body shaking. " We need to move him fast."

Everyone exchanged looks. They couldn't help Lloyd. A trip to the hospital wouldn't be fast enough.

But maybe Nadya could fix it.

She stepped forward, pulling up the sleeves to her dirty shirt. " We don't need to move him anywhere. I can. . . I might be able to heal him."

Both of Lloyd's parents looked at her with teary hopeful eyes. If she did this right, then maybe she could be forgiven. Maybe it would cancel out all the bad things she had ever done. Nadya closed her eyes, focusing of stopping the flow of blood. Then she concentrated on closing the wound. It was exhausting, and she'd never tried a healing spell on anyone other than herself, but it was working.

Lloyd groaned. A powerful groan that did not belong to a dying person.

Nadya smiled.

The green ninja sat up slowly. " Why'd you. . . Why'd you heal me? Oh wait let me guess, Casey ordered you to try to gain my trust now. It's too late. I know who you really are."

Nadya's smile faltered.

"What are you talking about Lloyd?" Misako looked from her son to the serpentine girl.

" She was never really one of us." Lloyd shook his head. "It was thanks to her that Casey found me. And now thanks to her, Casey has the devil's box. Thanks to her I almost died."

Nadya stepped back. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. It wasn't fair.

Cole looked at the determination in Lloyd's eyes, then at the anger forming in Garmadon's eyes. Fury filled him for a second and his eyes flash red. But then he regained his composure and cleared his throat. " Nadya. . . I thought we could trust you. We were ready to give you a second chance. But now. . . I see you've always been our enemy. . . I suggest you leave before. . . We're forced to fight you."

Once again, Nadya's world broke around her.