Lloyd couldn't help but feel a little bad about earlier. He hadn't meant to keep his mother out of the loop, but, well… Sometimes he just forgot he even had a mother. When he was at Darkly's he'd heard so much about his father, but he hadn't heard a single thing about his mother.

She just left me there; no note, no picture… He knew why she left him. He understood her intentions and he didn't hate her for it, but… But sometimes she just doesn't seem like my mom.

Even now she was mostly absent from his life. It was due to her job, he knew, as there wasn't likely to be any dig sites or ruins to explore in their back yard. Still… it didn't stop him from feeling almost unwanted.

He knew that was why he'd treated Cliff Gordon so harshly. Why he'd judged him so poorly. While he knew better now, it certainly seemed very cold hearted to just leave your kid in a junkyard, and it made him wonder about whether or not it was like that for his mom. If he was just something to be abandoned and never thought of again.

He hadn't said anything about these feelings, not even to Kai. His dad and Uncle both seemed to think so highly of his mom that he wasn't sure what their reactions would be, and as much as he trusted Kai, he wasn't the best at keeping secrets. The last thing Lloyd wanted was for them to think of him as being a terrible son.

Even if it is true…


Skylor goes through the routine for opening the restaurant almost mindlessly. Her thoughts still caught up in the other night. The ninja, distracted as they were by the revelation that Alphonse had given them, still offered to let them stay the night due to the late hour. Alphonse had already left by that point, and Skylor, well…

After what Alphonse had confided in her, she wasn't sure what to do.

"Can I tell you a secret?" He'd asked.

"Of course." She replied.

"I died that night, too." He'd said, holding out his necklace to her. The necklace had an intricate design, the pattern looping in on itself, over and under, endlessly.

"It must have been hard." She'd said sympathetically. "To be ostracized like that from your family."

"…That wasn't what I meant." The man had carefully tucked the necklace back into his shirt. "I was dead. Buried. Three days after the incident."

She hadn't known how to reply to that. She still has no idea how to respond to such a statement. Seeing her hesitation, Alphonse continued.

"I'm sorry." Alphonse had clutched at the necklace under his shirt. "I suppose this is hard to believe…"

It was. It is. But she could tell he wasn't lying about it. Regardless of whether what he said was true or not, he believed what he was saying.

"If you were buried…" She'd asked cautiously. "How did you get out?"

He'd looked at her, his gaze sad, and quietly said.

"I didn't."

She wanted to ask so many questions. There certainly seemed to be more to the story, but Dareth had come outside then to tell them about the ninja's offering of a room for the night. Alphonse had quickly taken his leave then, and with everything going on with the ninja, Skylor felt it rude to stay any longer. She had plenty of money, she could just rent a hotel room for the night.

Dareth had insisted on driving her to the hotel, so the two of them had departed from the ninja's place. The honorary ninja had gotten himself a room as well, and had ended up driving her back home early in the morning.

So here she was, uncertain of what the whole conversation she'd had last night even meant, or whether it was something she should tell the ninja. Alphonse didn't seem to think it was vital for them to know, otherwise he would have told them. And with everything they already had on their plates, anything more would only end up a hindrance.

Then again, maybe he was just worried that the ninja wouldn't believe him. While they had seen ghosts come back, Alphonse was clearly flesh and blood. It was hard to imagine anyone being able to return from the dead in such a manner. And that was assuming the man hadn't suffered from some psychosis that made him think he'd died. Maybe I'll take some time off from the restaurants and look into it myself…

Then if she found anything important she could tell the ninja.


Kai watched the pot of water that was heating up with distaste. Maybe if he stared at it, it'd take just that much longer before he had to drink that unholy concoction they called tea.

"Come on, Kai, it really isn't that bad." Nya says with a shake of her head.

"Yes, it is." He insists, turning his gaze to watch his sister carefully divide a small portion of the lotus breaker out to put into the tea pot. "Maybe your taste buds aren't working."

"Really?" She says flatly, momentarily looking up from her task to give her brother an unamused look.

"Yes, really." Kai met his sister's gaze unwaveringly, and she eventually rolled her eyes, turning back to the lotus breaker and setting what she'd divided into a small pile and putting the rest away.

There was a momentary silence, the two siblings both becoming lost in thought, and then Nya broke it.

"Hey, Kai?" Her tone is hesitant, and Kai, in a rare moment of insight, decides to stay quiet and give her his full attention. "There wasn't anything we could have done, is there? To prevent this, I mean. What happened to Jay…"

The master of fire had to grit his teeth as the words sparked his agitation once more. It wasn't that he was mad at his sister, nor at her words, but at the helplessness it brought to the surface.

"No." He admits grudgingly. "There wasn't."

To prevent this from happening, they'd have to have prevented Jay's uncle from performing the ritual on him, which would mean Jay would have died. He could still die, could still be lost forever, if they made a wrong move.

"But…" Here Nya hesitates again. "But why now?"

"What do you mean?" Nya isn't looking at him, instead she's watching the gentle wafts of steam rising from the near boiling water. "That guy made it pretty clear; every time we've taken out one of those guys with a shard, it's been going to Jay. Obviously it finally just… tipped the scale."

"…We haven't fought anyone recently." She picks up one of the leaves from the lotus breaker. "Before he took over Jay, the only thing we'd done is learn about our… heritage."

Kai wasn't sure he was following his sister's thought process. Sure, they'd learned that they hailed from djinn, and had apparently been influencing how things went, but what did that have to do with this current predicament?

"So…" Kai, for once, was struggling to find the right words to say. "…You think that our powers have something to do with this? So, like, we stop drinking the tea and everything will go back to normal?"

"Kai." She huffs, giving her brother a withering glare. The water begins to boil, filling the room with its piercing whistle, almost as if on cue. Quickly turning off the burner, Nya turns to look for a pot holder.

"Here, let me." Kai steps forward, grabbing the hot metal with his bare hand; the heat wasn't a problem for him, thanks to his powers. "And why don't you just tell me what you're thinking, I'm not Neuro, you know; I can't read minds."

He fills the tea pot with hot water, and they allow it a moment to heat up before Nya dumps it out, puts the lotus breaker in and allows Kai to fill it up once more. The master of water flips the sand timer over before turning to her brother with a troubled expression.

"It's just… there had to be a trigger, right?"

"Right." The master of fire nods.

"If it wasn't the addition of another shard, it had to be something else." She worries her lip, takes a deep breath, and then says. "The only thing that happened that could have done it… was the revelation that he doesn't love me."

Kai shifts uncomfortably for a moment, unsure how to respond.

"I… I guess that could be it."

"Kai, Brother, please just answer my next question honestly." Her gaze is hard, determined, and Kai knows that she won't take 'no' for an answer.

"Alright." As much as he dreaded her question... "I promise."

There's a momentary pause between the two of them, the tension filling the air and making it heavy.

"Am I… Was I a horrible girlfriend?" She holds his gaze for a moment before it drops down to her hands. "Did I cause this? I… I know I was a bit selfish but-… but he never complained and… but the spell, the magic or whatever, did it… was it the reason he'd never complained? The reason he couldn't complain?"

"Nya…" The red ninja is shocked to see his sister's shoulders begin to shake, almost imperceptibly. She'd always been the stronger of the two, more in control of her emotions. She never cried in front of others, not even at their father's funeral… but this was a private moment between the two siblings. There was no one to put up a brave face in front of.

I'm the older brother, I'm supposed to protect my little sister. Kai thinks as he pulls his sister forward into a hug. But is it better to lie, or to tell the truth?

The truth.

That's what their father would say, at least. That a harsh truth that kept a person from repeating a mistake was better than a pretty lie that spared the person's feelings. That was what he'd always said when Kai was younger and needed to be punished.

"Nya…" Kai took a deep breath and prepared to rip off the bandage. "You took advantage of Jay. I don't know how or if that played a part in this… but your relationship with him wasn't healthy."

She doesn't respond, just breaks down further, crying into his shoulder. It felt like a knife in his heart, knowing his words had caused it. How had their dad done it?

They stayed that way for a while, long enough for the tea to go cold, and when they finally did get around to drinking it, Kai wasn't sure if the bitter taste on his tongue was from the drink or the aftermath of his own words.


That was it. Jay thinks as he exits the reel. The final memory.

He isn't sure how he knows. He isn't sure why it's the final one, when there are more that take place after it. But the one thing he does know, now, is how to get out of here.

There wasn't a specific direction to go, but he knew he had to push forward.

"You know, I have no idea how to explain it." He says aloud to the little snowflake in his chest. "But I guess that doesn't matter so long as I know how to do it, right?"

A radiating cold from his chest is the only answer he gets, but he's sure that's a yes.

"Alright, time to get my body back." He says and pushes forward.

For a moment it's like when he steps into the reels. There's a second of confusion, he stumbles, and then a pain erupts in his chest that sends a violent shock through his system.

Bewildered, he looks down to see a sword in his chest, and then up at the person wielding it. A nameless nindroid looks back at him, dressed in white with purple accents.

"My Lord!" A familiar voice calls out, before the nindroid who stabbed him has its head sliced from its shoulders (the blade passing inches from his face); The nindroid releases its grip on the sword as its body goes limp and an array of sparks fly out from the damaged area. Then it's like Jay's been tugged back. Every sensation goes numb, and he panics, thinking he'll be pushed back down into that world of endless black sand. He isn't sure what, exactly, he does (is it still digging in your heels if it's just in your head?), but he can still see and hear what's going on. "My Lord, are you alright?"

"I'll be fine." He hears himself assure… wait, is that Pythor? "Thankfully it missed anything vital."

He watches himself pull the sword from his chest, a gush of blood flowing out once the blade is no longer stopping it. Jay winces, although his body doesn't.

"My Lord." A nindroid dressed in the old black and purple scheme approaches, looking concerned. "We have everything under control here, you should return to base and have your wounds tended to."

"I am so lost right now." Jay sighs, his voice echoing oddly.

He feels his body stiffen a bit, then hears himself say.

"I'll leave this in your hands." There's a long silence as his body walks away from the fighting, carelessly pushing his hand against his chest in a halfhearted attempt to stem the blood flow. "I'm impressed, little blue jay."

There's no one around to hear him, and Jay can't see any birds around.

"…Wait, are you talking to me?

"I don't think anyone's managed to take control back from me for even a second." He pulls his hand away to look at the blood that seems way too dark to be healthy, hums thoughtfully, and then pushes it back against the wound carelessly. "Well, no normal person, anyway."

Jay hesitates a moment, unsure of what's even going on.

Wait… am I being possessed? Jay feels his anxiety begin to rise. He didn't know who this person was, or what he wanted. Why was he fighting the nindroids, and just when did Cryptor get out of prison?!

"Calm down blue jay." The mystery person hums. Why is he trying to be soothing? There isn't anything soothing about hearing your own voice twisted into something almost foreign by someone else. "Why don't you just go back to sleep?"

He feels a push, like it's trying to send him back down to that place, the world of endless black sand and stormy skies, but Jay pushes back.

"Ooooh, no!"He says stubbornly. "I am not going back there after everything I went through to get here! So, just, give me back my body!"

Jay tries to push forward, to take back control, but it feels like he's pushing against a brick wall.

"Seems we're at an impasse." He hears the other say with a touch of annoyance in his voice.

"Who are you, anyway?" Jay huffs, then pauses, realizing something. "And would you get some medical attention before you let me bleed out?!"

"This wound isn't going to kill us, blue jay." The other sighs dramatically. "As I said before, nothing vital was hit. Honestly, I should be mad at you for breaking my concentration like that."

"Don't you dare turn this on me!" Was this guy serious? "Let's not forget who stole who's body here."

"Steal~?" The other chuckles. "Let's not forget who gave it up willingly."

"I… I wouldn't…" Jay hesitates, because now that he thinks back he can remember hearing a voice just before he ended up in that strange world. The memory was fuzzy, now, he can't remember what was said. Had he really agreed to this?

"You did." The other says without any hesitation. "Don't you remember? The sorrow, the anger, and the fear? It can all go away, you just need to go back to sleep."

"No!" If Jay could, he'd shake his head. "I'm not going back. I don't know who you are-" Jay stops, because he realizes that, yes, he does know who this is. He only ever saw the memories of two people down in that world. His own and memories belonging to a man named- "Hykos?"

The other stiffens, and Jay thinks he can feel the other's shock dimly.

"How do you know that name?" The other asks, and then shakes his head. "It doesn't matter; Hykos died long ago. You can call me Viperae."

He begins to walk. Jay assumes he's heading back for his base like Cryptor had suggested.

"Don't like the name?" Jay pushes, testing the other's resolve. Still like a wall. Darn. "Or do you not like the memories associated with it?"

"Don't speak of things you know nothing about." The other hisses lowly.

"Oh, I know plenty. I even lived through it, as if I were the one killing your superior." There's a momentary give, a waver in the other, and then he's pushed back with such force Jay actually feels his head reel. If he weren't careful the other could send him back into that world, and Jay wasn't sure if he'd be able to make it back out again.

"I'm done talking, blue jay." Hykos says darkly.

"Too bad." Jay says carefully. "All my friends say I don't know when to shut up."

He isn't sure if the snort that gets from the other is from amusement or annoyance. Either way, he was going to keep talking to Hykos as much as possible and wait for the other to let his guard down.

Eventually he'd slip enough for Jay to take back control.

End chapter twenty seven


AN: For those wondering why Jay wouldn't realize right off the bat that Viperae was talking to him, that's because they're technically speaking Japanese in this (since Ninjago is probably Japan). In Japanese 'blue jay' is 'Aokokestu' (correct me if I'm wrong), which doesn't sound anything like his name.

Many thanks to everyone who favorited, followed, and especially reviewed this story so far! Seeing how much you guys are enjoying it makes it all worth it. ^u^

-Kit Brightside