121
"Any luck?"
Mia was typing furiously on her tablet keyboard, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she waited for Ashely's response from the other side of the phone. The redhead's sigh could be heard coming through the speakerphone and Mia glanced over to make wary eye contact with her twin.
"I mean, she didn't say no, but other than filling out a sheet at the interview desk, I'm no closer to having free reign in there."
"You mean you didn't just bat you eyes and twirl your hair and make it in?" May asked, nibbling at a piece of licorice as her eyes scanned pages of Ninjagoan bylaws on a computer screen of her own.
"Come on, May," her sister chided. "Ashley's flirtatious skills are only good on hot guys." Mia smiled as she pictured Ashley rolling her eyes. "How is Will by the way, Ash?"
"He's fine," the redhead said dryly.
"He still ride that motorcycle with that leather jacket your Dad hates?" May chirped in, and here they could actually hear Ashely sigh with irritation.
"Can we stay on topic here, guys?"
"Sure. You were about to tell us what magic you're going to pull to get into that fortress of political solitude," Mia pointed out.
"I'm going to go in again tomorrow and see what I can do to weasel myself in. Make myself useful, or whatever. For now I think we need to go on to the next phase."
"Hear that Julien?" May asked, glancing over at the bespeckled teen typing in his own bunker made of computer screens. "Operation Chic Geek is a go!"
The Robotics major looked up to give her a disapproving look.
"I never did approve that plan name," he reminded coolly, and Mia just rolled her eyes.
"The point is, you're on. You got that virus sent out yet?"
"Hours ago," he said, sounding miffed at the fact that she needed to ask. Here the shorter-haired twin turned and raised her eyebrow.
"Then what have you been doing this whole time?"
"Creating a trojan that will allow me access to their entire system," he answered. "The virus I sent should be enough for them to need my assistance, but it's harmless. Laughable, really. A little annoying but not detrimental. The program I will input into their system to "get rid" of the virus will allow me to get into everything. Audio files, video bites, even security cameras." He glanced over at Mia and raised an eyebrow of his own. "A treasure trove of blackmail material."
"Forget blackmail. We don't want to bribe that dictator…we want to bury her!" May answered testily. After a moment she groaned. "Ugh! My eyes are going to fall out of my head! This stuff is soooo boringggg."
"Hang in there, guys," Ashley's voice said again. "Remember why we're doing this."
"Speaking of, I guess you haven't gotten a visual on Theo yet, huh? If you haven't made it past the front desk…" Mia started.
"I will have plenty of visuals once my program is uploaded," Julien pointed out, finishing a download and pulling a USB from a port with a flourish.
"Hey, Ash," May cut in, her brow knit with worry as she typed. "I get that politicians are generally pretty good about keeping a clean face and all that…but this Matilda character seems like a piece of work. You don't think she'll actually do anything to hurt Theo, do you?"
There was silence from the other side of the phone.
"I don't know. I mean, I'd say it's unlikely, but the best plan is just to work quickly and do what we need to so we can get him out of there."
"That's your cue, Chic Geek," Mia pointed out, and Julien narrowed his eyes at her before addressing Ashley again.
"I am on my way now."
The phone began beeping with an incoming call, and May looked down.
"Mmm, sorry Ash…it's our mom."
"That's fine. See you guys in a bit."
The call ended as May switched the call, taking it off of speaker-phone.
"Sup, Mom?"
She was silent as she heard her mother from the other side, and then sighed with an eye roll.
"It's not our fault that he was still asleep when we headed out!"
More chastising, and the teen had to stop typing in order to lean back dramatically in her chair.
"I'm just saying, politics aren't really Colby's thing…"
Louder reprimanding.
"Ok, sheesh! We were not trying to leave him out, ok? If he wants to come over, we're at the Temple. Lloyd let us commandeer the top floor; we needed the computer power."
She glanced over so she and her twin could share identical suffering looks.
"Sounds good. Yeah, we'll watch for him. We aren't going anywhere; we'll be here when he gets here. But I just don't get what the point is; he's going to get bored and go play videogames or draw on the walls or whatever within half an hour, I'm telling you."
More silence as she listened, and then a final resigned sigh.
"Yeah, mom. We'll include him, ok? Yeah…it's going fine. Some progress; Ashley hit a bit of a roadblock but we're working through it. What? Um….no, that's ok, Mom." She glanced over at Mia, who gave her a questioning look. May continued her comment as an answer. "I don't really think we'll need any mechs for this mission. No motorbikes either…"
Mia snorted a little and turned back to her tablet as May pulled another licorice out of the pack, swinging it around absently.
"Mhmm…mhmmmmm….k….love ya too. Bye."
She hung up and looked over at her sister, who rolled her eyes.
"Our poor parents," she said with a smirk. "Still living in the past."
"If only our parents were offering to get us prototypes of the latest Borg phones," May sighed, going back to her computer. "But no….just new motorbikes."
"She does realize we can build our own motorbikes at this point, right?" Mia asked. "I mean…we basically aced all those mechanics and engineering courses she put us in…"
"You know parents. Always have that way of seeing you as a three-year old," May said as she tried to steel herself to dive back into her reading. After a moment she glanced back up at her sister.
"Do you think this is going to work, Mia? Or…is it all just gonna blow up in our faces…"
"It'll be fine," her twin countered, her eyes flashing angrily as she glared at the computer screen. "Just wait; this chick is gonna rue the day she messed with us."
"What do you mean, she isn't here?!"
Marty was roaring at the receptionist, and she shrunk back a little.
"I'm sorry, sir. President O'Keefe is in an important interview at the moment…"
"I don't care!" he snapped. "She has my son…"
He went to head to the elevator and the woman stood.
"Sir, I will call security…"
"And if you don't get Matilda down here right now, I'm going to call the police!" he replied. The receptionist looked torn, and finally sighed.
"I'll give her a call. If you would just be so kind as to wait in an armchair…"
He scowled and didn't move to do so, but he wasn't yelling anymore. The receptionist placed a call.
"Alejandro? Yes…please have Matilda come down to reception as soon as she possibly can. We have a certain dilemma…"
She glanced up at Marty and paused. Her voice became hushed as she turned her back to the man glowering at her.
"Her ex-husband. Yes, I threatened to call security, but he says it's about their son and he's about to call the police…"
"Excuse me?"
She turned to see a teen with blonde hair and glasses smiling at her kindly. She held up a finger to signify that he needed to wait.
"Right. I'll let you know….yes, please do. Thanks, Alejandro."
She hung up and looked up at the teen with some irritation.
"Yes?"
"My name is Julien Cyrus, and I am here to fix your scanning system."
The receptionist pressed a hand to her eyes and sighed.
"We didn't request…"
"I was actually sent from Borg Industries," the teen cut in, holding up an ID card. "It is a problem that they found in the latest model scanners, and they have been sending us out to fix the problem on any models sold in the last six months."
The receptionist was still hesitating, and the boy looked at his watch.
"Look…I have three other models to visit by the end of the day. If you have not had any problems with this one, then maybe you will not experience the same things others have."
"What kind of problems are we talking?" she asked carefully.
He shrugged.
"Gibberish when it's pulled up on a screen, trouble scanning for anything outside a mile radius. I do believe it's a city-wide scanner, correct?"
The receptionist sighed heavily and finally made another phone call.
"Stevie? Yeah, sorry to bother you. I just need to know; has the scanner been acting up at all?"
She was silent as she listened and bounced her leg.
"Well, can you take a few minutes to check?"
A few more minutes passed and her brow furrowed.
"Gibberish?"
She glanced up at the teen, who pushed his glasses up in an 'I told you so' sort of way. She sighed.
"Don't bother, Stevie. Some kid from Borg industries just showed up to fix it. Yeah, you get back to whatever Matilda needed you to do."
She hung up and looked back at the boy.
"Floor three. Go right up; Stevie will show you which way to go; just be silent, alright? We have an interview filming up there right now."
The teen nodded and the receptionist didn't notice Marty looking up at her as she spoke. In fact, she had nearly forgotten that the Headmaster was there at all as she began wading through an impossible amount of emails.
Pippa was panting as she and Baffa pulled back up to the tent. She came in, brandishing her satchel proudly.
"We found so much!" she said, but then she realized that Hershel was still asleep. Syn snapped at her as she chopped tubers at the table.
"Shh!" she said, and Pippa smiled sheepishly as she came over to put her satchel on the table.
"I found lots," she repeated softly, and Syn nodded.
"Good…"
"Do you think it will make Uncle Hershel happy?" she pressed, and Syn paused in her chopping.
"It…it'll certainly help him out," Syn said with a smile as she gestured at the satchel with her knife. "Now put them away; you know where they go."
Pippa got to work, and she and her mother worked side by side for an hour or so. Pippa was hanging some of the bundles when she heard Hershel start to stir. She turned to her mom.
"He's waking up…" she pointed out, and the woman looked up. She wiped her hands on a towel and headed over immediately, worry obvious on her face. Pippa watched as her mother knelt down next to Hershel as he blinked awake. She put a hand on his to let him know she was there.
"Hersh…did it work?"
Pippa bit her lip as she waited. Slowly, Hershel moved to look at Syn. Or…tried to look at Syn. But then his eyes were filled with tears and Pippa felt a wrenching inside as she watched him break down. Her mother immediately went to hug him, and Hershel clung to her as he wept silently. The child couldn't take it; she bolted from the tent. She made it outside and took deep breaths, trying not to cry. A wet nose pressed into her and she looked over to see Baffa snuffling her side. Tears stung her eyes, and she buried her face in the fluffy sniffer's mane.
"Fluff? You ok?"
She turned to see her father riding up on his hoofer. She pouted as he dismounted and came over.
"Why did they hurt Uncle Hershel?" she asked, and her father's expression darkened. He knelt down next to her and Baffa, and she wiped her eyes ruefully.
"Fluff…"
"He's scared…I can tell."
Tolan sighed, trying to figure out how to phrase it.
"Hershel made a mistake, Pip."
She bristled immediately.
"What?!" she demanded. "What did he do?!"
Her father looked away and she grabbed his arm.
"Did he hurt someone?!"
"No..."
"Then why did they hurt him?!"
Her eyes were flashing, her aura whipping around in the air.
"We shouldn't have left, Mom and me. We should have stopped the bad man right then, before he could hurt him…"
"Fluff," Tolan cut in, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You couldn't have done anything. It was better that you left."
She looked at him, and his stomach twisted at the betrayal in her face. Suddenly her face was scrunching up, tears pooling again as she yelled at him.
"You hate him!" she yelled, and Tolan blinked in surprise.
"Pippa!"
"You do! You always say mean things…you don't care…."
"Stop it," he commanded, grabbing her other arm as well. "Pippa, I do not hate your Uncle."
"Then why haven't you gone after the guys who did this!? You could beat them, Dad….you could beat anyone…"
"It's complicated, Fluff," he murmured. "I can't just go killing people, alright? It's not fair that they did this, but…"
"But what?!" she demanded. "Uncle Hershel's never hurt anyone…never ever! And they hurt him…"
"I couldn't kill that short tyrant, even if I wanted to," Tolan murmured, looking her in the face to make sure she understood. "He's an Ancient, Pip. He can't be killed…and as cruel as it seems, Hershel broke a law, and Imgloss was in his right to…"
"What law?" Pippa demanded, wiping her nose on her arm angrily. "What law, Dad?"
Tolan trailed off, and his daughter scanned his face pleadingly. He finally shook his head.
"It's complicated," he murmured again, and she kicked the dirt. But then the fight seemed to leave her, and Pippa sagged into her father. He pulled her in and she pouted tiredly.
"He can't see his Dad anymore," she told her father softly. "He can't see anything anymore."
Tolan didn't know how to answer, so he held her until she had fallen asleep, the hazy afternoon and her busy morning mixing with her tears to wear her out. But he thought about their conversation long after she began snoring softly.
Myrah scoured another shelf and her brow furrowed with worry. She wiped her hair out of her face.
"Where could it have gone?" she murmured to herself, feeling sick. She had been so eager to show Bula her diligence over these last few days that she hadn't even realized that it was missing until now. Who else would have taken it? Who else even came into the library?
"You sent for me?"
Myrah turned and straightened as she saw her senior advisor.
"Bula," Myrah hesitated, not sure if she wanted to admit her faux pas. She finally steeled herself for her Advisor's judgment. "The scroll I was reading a few days ago…when we had our discussion. Have you seen it?"
Bula frowned.
"Which discussion?"
Myrah flushed and tried not to be impatient.
"The one about the Master Healer, and my choices."
Recognition lit in Bula's eyes and the Western Leader pressed onward.
"I was reading a scroll at the time; it had a red ribbon on it. Have you seen it?"
"Red ribbon…" Bula muttered, as if trying to remember. She finally shook her head. "No, I haven't. I honestly can't say I remember what it looks like. Has it been put away?"
Myrah didn't answer right away.
"It…doesn't belong to the library."
Bula frowned.
"Is it one of Theodynn's records? Myrah, if you've lost it…"
"It's not Theodynn's. It…I got it from the Master Healer," she finally admitted. Bula looked surprised.
"I thought he didn't allow those scrolls to leave the tent?" she pointed out carefully, and Myrah's flush deepened.
"He made an exception. That's why I need to find it; he trusted me to return it."
"Mmmm…trust." Bula nodded sagely. "Can be devastating when it's broken, can't it?"
Myrah scowled.
"You can still trust me, Bula," she reminded icily. "I told you, our plans are still underway."
"Of course," Bula replied, more meekly. "I would ask the village leaders; they occasionally come through here to find records. Other than that…I'm not sure." She paused, rubbing her chin. "Perhaps we should search all the slaves, in case any of them are filching scrolls…"
"Servants," Myrah reminded. "And I doubt any of them can read, so I don't know what good it would do them to have taken it."
"I'll send out the message regardless," Bula offered. "Hopefully we'll find it soon."
"Yes." Myrah turned, remembering another bookshelf she had yet to check. "Hopefully."
122
It was a madhouse. Julien had to avoid being trampled at least three different times on his way to the scanner.
"Just fix the scanner, k, kid? We got a lot of stuff going on and we don't need any liabilities here," the man named Stevie explained. He was overweight…and smelled like hotdogs. Not in a good way.
"I understand," he explained, and he sat down quietly at the computer. The hot dog smell continued and Julien finally sighed and looked up at the guy hovering over him.
"This will take a little while," he explained irritably, and Stevie huffed.
"Alright. Just make sure you don't mess it up, got it? If anything were to happen to this scanner…"
"I am a trained professional. No need to worry about me," Julien assured, and Stevie must have heard the sharpness in his tone because the man scowled.
"Fine. Holler if you need help."
Julien wanted to point out that that would be highly unlikely; he could tell right away from the mere way this man's station was organized that he did not have half the mental prowess he possessed. But saying such things would be rude, and attract more attention than he needed. So he nodded and buckled down to get to work.
The problem was two step at this point; first he had to get rid of his own virus, and then he had to upload the Trojan laden with discreet spyware. The second step would take longer, and he worried that if anyone with enough programming sense passed by during the process he would be discovered.
"Here? I'm not talking with him right now. Alejandro, you'll have to tell him to either wait or leave; I have far too much to do. I need to get this interrogation rolling so we can have another statement out by five o'clock…"
Julien glanced up to see Matilda O'Keefe come into the room. The brainy teen watched her coolly over the rims of his glasses. Confident, stylish, organized. And cruel…he knew she was very cruel. Perhaps not in the same ways as villains in the past, ones his parents and the others had faced. She was far more indirect about her cruelty, which made her all the more dangerous.
"I brought the Oni, like you asked."
Julien glanced over and then immediately hunched down further. A guard was standing nearby with Theodynn, and luckily Julien had a whole shield of machinery to block him from the Oni's view. He was honestly happy to see that his friend seemed to be alright, but he was also on a mission. If Theodynn gave even the slightest impression that he knew the geeky teenager hiding behind the large computing processor, the whole mission would be compromised.
Matilda was rolling her eyes.
"I didn't tell you to bring him here…"
"Then where did you want him?" the Defender asked. Julien risked another subtle look at his friend. He looked unharmed, besides the irritated expression. When he spoke, his voice was soft but strong.
"I have yet to be allowed a trip to the restroom," he reminded, and Matilda glanced over at him with a disgusted look.
"Yes…I suppose you would love some privacy, wouldn't you? A chance to try and weasel your way out of here…"
"It's a human need!" Theo argued back. "You can't expect me to…"
"You aren't human."
Julien bristled at the way Ms. O'Keefe addressed the Oni. Julien Cyrus rarely ever agreed with the Walker twins, but in this case he had to concur that this villain needed to be buried.
Matilda was scanning Theo's face, and she finally rolled her eyes flippantly.
"Fine. Take the Oni to the restroom before taking him to the interviewing room. Just make sure his cuffs remain firmly in place…"
"Matilda!"
She turned in surprise as a man came into the hub-bub of the third floor. Julien was desperate to get his Trojan implanted as soon as possible, but even he couldn't help but glance up as Marty IV came charging into the room. Matilda looked surprised, and a few men in NCST outfits went to intercept the furious Headmaster.
"Marty…" she said coolly, as composed as ever. "What on earth do you think you are…"
"Where's M?" he demanded, and she paused. He wrenched out of the grasp of one of the NCST workers. "Where's my son?!"
She sighed, putting at hand to her face.
"How would I know?" she said, her voice dripping with patronizing poison. "I'm not allowed to see him, remember?"
"I've had enough of your lies," Marty hissed. He pulled something out of his pocket…Julien leaned forward to catch sight of what looked like a newspaper. "I know he was at the hospital last night."
Matilda frowned at the paper he was thrusting towards her, and she nodded to Alejandro to take it. She looked down at the picture and shook her head.
"I don't see how this proves anything…."
"He's right there!" Marty yelled, and people were looking over from across the room now, to see what on earth was happening. He pulled free of the people trying to corral him once more, pointing at the edge of the picture. "I know what my son looks like…"
Matilda made a show of squinting at the grainy picture and scoffed.
"That could be anyone; there were a lot of people in that parking lot, you know. Too many curious onlookers…"
"He was here."
Everyone looked over in surprise as the Oni spoke again. Juilen's heart starting pounding, not sure why Theodynn was getting involved in all of this. Matilda's expression flashed murderously as she turned to look at him, but Theo didn't seem intimidated.
"He was?" Marty pressed, and Theo nodded in response. The teen's gaze was resting on Matilda, however.
"You brought him back here…locked him in your office. Or don't you remember?"
She stiffened, her body language putting forth a very obvious threat. Marty began to fight those restricting him once more.
"I will see you jailed, Matilda!" he roared. "How dare you…"
"The Oni is of course a liar," the Politician said evenly, turning back to her ex-husband. "Alejandro can give you a tour of our entire facility; Marty is not here."
"But he was…" the Headmaster hissed. "So help me, I will take you to court for this, Matilda."
"It isn't my fault if he ran away from you," she replied. "It isn't my fault if you can't find him. You've made it painfully clear that I am to have nothing to do with him, and I've respected you on that."
"I know you had him last night; if I find him here…"
"You won't. If he's left you than he's gone, Marty. Not that I can blame him; you have such a way of driving people away."
Marty stiffened, his face blanching as he glared at her with hatred. She seemed unaffected as she gestured to her assistant.
"Take him to my office, Alejandro…and anywhere else he wants to see." She turned back to meet Marty's murderous look. "And if he doesn't behave himself then call the police. I don't have time to deal with such trivial accusations right now."
"How could you not even care?" Marty finally hissed, and she turned on him.
"Of course I care. But I don't blame the kid, Marty…I blame you! So get out of here and stop wasting my time, and contact the police about our missing son, like you should have done in the first place!"
For a moment, Julien wondered if the mustached man would fight through the Defenders and strangle the President of the NCST. It sure looked like he wanted to. The blonde teen wondered what he should do in that situation, should it occur. However, he shouldn't have worried; the Headmaster finally backed off, sneering at Matilda.
"I will find him…and you will go down for your part in this. I warned you what would happen if you crossed me about my son."
With that, he turned and left the room, and Matilda stood statuesque until the elevator door closed. Julien watched her warily, unsure of what she would do…and he knew that the rest of the room was watching her too. She turned, fixing Theo with a strangely calm look as she took a few steps to be closer to him. Then, without warning, the NCST president slapped him across the face.
Julien felt a rush of anger and stood before he could think better of it, his fists clenched. Theo looked shocked, and from his place a yard or so away, Julien could hear Matilda hiss.
"How dare you spread your lies! Inciting chaos and conflict…"
"You lied," Theo pointed out, swallowing as he met her gaze with a calm sort of fury. She jabbed him with a long, manicured nail.
"You are a being of destruction," she reminded. "No doubt you revel in sowing seeds of falsehoods and anarchy…"
"Don't. Touch me. Again."
Julien had to strain to hear Theodynn's response, but even he could hear the threat in it. His heart was pounding, and he remembered to duck down before Theo could recognize him. He didn't dare look up again, but he listened closely to the rest of the exchange as he furiously worked on the system.
"Take the Oni to the interview room," Matilda ordered. It sounded like she was trying to shake off the past few minutes…regain the control that she had allowed to slip for a moment. "But no need to stop by the restroom now, since he seemed perfectly comfortable with lingering here to invent stories."
Julien was shaking a little. He had been raised to abhor injustice, and the entire situation just made him…well. It made him want to chuck a heavy computer screen at a certain NCST president. But he just kept typing. There were footsteps as Theo and his guard left the room, and angry staccato clacks as Matilda stormed away to compose herself.
"Hey kid."
Julien jumped, having been distracted by the whole situation that he hadn't picked up on the hot dog smell until it was washing over him. He swallowed, but kept his voice calm as he continued working. He prayed that this Stevie character could not interpret intrusive malware programming.
"What? I told you that it will take a while…"
"Sure, kid. But I was just going to tell you that there's privacy laws about these sorts of things."
Julien paused, finally turning to look up at the man through his perfectly polished glasses.
"Meaning?"
Stevie folded his beefy arms.
"Meaning that what happens in these premises are private. You go blabbing about things you think you've seen and heard, and we'll press charges against you and your company."
Ah. The processed-meat scented man was not onto his spyware; he merely did not want him ratting out anything he had seen to the news.
"Look, I am just here to fix the scanners. I could not care less about what else is happening," he said crossly, continuing his work. Stevie hesitated, probably trying to decide if he could trust him. After a moment he offered some gruff reply and headed off to go smell up someone else's workplace, and Julien let out a small sigh of relief. It was kind of true; he was not going to personally testify on anything that happened that day, after all. He smiled a little as the scanner rebooted, showing a swirling Borg Industry Logo. The actual security camera footage of the entire fiasco would be much more convincing to an audience, after all.
"Julien called a little while ago to tell us that he's got the spyware uploaded into the NCST's system. We can access it all from the Temple now; it'll help us keep an eye on Theo and find any especially incriminating tidbits that we can use against her in the long run."
Ashley finished her report and Amber shifted in her hospital bed. She was sick of being in here, but the doctors insisted she stay an extra day to make sure that her rapid comeback wasn't going to take a turn for the worst. Amber had long since decided that Ninjago doctors were idiots.
"Alright," Amber finally said, mainly just because Ashley seemed to be wanting an answer. The redhead pushed her hair out of her face.
"Just wanted you to be caught up. Once you get out of here, you could come to the temple and help us. I mean, you have more reason than anyone to take this lady down."
Amber leaned back a little, feeling uncomfortable and strangely flattered.
"Alright," she said again, and Ashley seemed to sense that the Oni wanted to be left alone. She gestured to the door.
"I'm gonna head out. Shoot us a call if you need anything."
Amber nodded and watched the young woman head to the door. She opened it and Amber heard her talking with someone.
"Who? Yeah, this is Amber's room. I'm just heading out…you can probably go right in."
Amber sat up, about to be irritated that Ashley had just given permission to someone to come right in. But her anger faded quickly as she saw who it was.
Dani stood awkwardly, looking more unsure of herself than usual. She caught Amber's eye and gave her a half smile, gesturing around with the slightly wilted bouquet in her hands.
"I..um…I brought you this as a get well sort of thing, but I didn't really think about the fact that there wouldn't be any vases. I should have just bought a card or something…"
"Dani!"
Amber smiled.
"You're ok…"
"Yeah. I mean, we're all ok. Well, except you." She winced hard, and Amber could feel her shame wash over her. "Man, I'm so stupid with words sometimes."
"I'm ok now, Dani," she offered, and her friend sighed. She finally just left the bouquet lying on the table and came over to hop up on the edge of Amber's bed, just like how she sat on her bed in their room back at school.
"I saw what happened to your parents," Dani finally offered softly. "I…I should have come sooner, I think. To see you. But I just didn't know what to say…"
"Dani, it all only happened last night!" Amber argued. "You didn't exactly wait forever to come see me."
Her friend bit her lip.
"I could have come the night of. But…I dunno…" the shame was back and Amber was startled to see the tears prick her friend's eyes. "I was scared. I mean, not of you…or anything…but after everything that happened I just felt so out of place. I spent the night with my family."
She wiped at her eyes and shook her head.
"I try to be brave. After leaving my old school that's what I decided I was going to be; the brave girl who just doesn't care what people think and who always stands up for what's right. But in that cave, I wasn't brave." She shuddered, hugging yourself. "I fell apart. And you had to do whatever it was to save us. And it freaked me out."
Amber felt a wash of guilt and unease. Was Dani trying to tell her that they couldn't be friends anymore? That now that she had seen what the Oni was really like, she didn't think she could handle it?
"I'm so sorry, Amber. I could have come sooner but I didn't. I was just…scared. I don't really know of what."
Amber bit her lip.
"It's my fault the water started coming into the cave," she pointed out. "I don't blame you for being scared."
"You didn't know," Dani said, but her voice was smaller, less convincing than it usually was. "And you saved all of us; we all got out of there because of you, Amber."
Amber couldn't really place what feeling it was that was coming from her friend, and she finally couldn't help it. She had to ask.
"Are you afraid of me, Dani? Do you…do you not want to be my roommate anymore?"
Dani's eyes widened.
"Oh, no, Amber! No…of course not…" she trailed off and sighed. "I mean, I'll be honest, everything that happened was pretty freaky. But I don't blame you for it. It wasn't your idea…and I do want to be your friend. That much is still true, one hundred percent."
Amber let out a sigh of relief. That having been sorted, she thought back to what Dani had just said, about how she didn't blame her. She realized she had a pretty good guess at who she did blame.
"How's M?" she asked softly. She realized suddenly that she hadn't seen him yet, even though her grandfather mentioned that he had tried to visit her. "Is he mad about all this? Or…"
Dani stared at her, and once again Amber could feel her unease.
"You don't know?" she finally asked, and Amber felt a stab of fear.
"Know what? What's happened?"
Dani tugged at her long, straight hair and sighed.
"You know I'm not one to gossip…but, I mean, gossip is all we really know right now and it's spreading through the school like wildfire."
"What's spreading?" Amber asked, her heart pounding. What had happened to M?
"Word on the street is he and his Dad got in a huge fight and now he's missing. Everyone's pretty sure he ran away, but there's this whole other crazy rumor that his Mom kidnapped him or something. I don't know. But he's not at the school….and nobody knows where he is."
Amber felt cold.
"What kind of fight?" she finally asked softly, and Dani hemmed and hawed, shifting uncomfortably.
"It was just a stressful day, all the tension from what happened…"
"It was about me, wasn't it?" Amber cut in, and Dani didn't answer. It didn't matter; the brunette's feelings told the Xinta she was right.
"Oh, M. What's he thinking, running away?" Amber mumbled to herself. As if things weren't bad enough already! "Nobody knows where he is? Could he be going to find his Grandfather?"
"Maybe," Dani said, but once again the girl's tone gave away her true opinion. "I didn't mean to worry you, Amber. I'm sure M's fine. He's stubborn as anything, and he's no pushover."
Amber shook her head.
"Do you think his mom really does have him?" she asked. She realized that she now had a way of finding out; she was sure Julien would do a sweeping search of the facility if she asked him to. "She's got my brother there at her headquarters right now."
"Theo? Oh…shoot, I did hear something about that."
Dani shifted again, and Amber could tell that her friend had another question she was uncomfortable asking.
"What is it?" she pressed, and Dani looked ashamed.
"It's just…did your Mom really hurt all those guys? I mean, I get that she was probably scared, and they were attacking her and everything. But the clips in the newscast…"
She shuddered, and Amber immediately felt a flash of defensiveness.
"They were beating my Dad," she replied stiffly. "So my mom reacted."
She felt bad for her snappish reply as soon as she saw the genuine concern in her friend's expression.
"Your dad? Really? Is he ok?"
Amber swallowed.
"He's fine. He and my mom are out with my Grandpa shopping for supplies. They're going to come pick me up tonight to take me home." She leaned back on her pillows. "Ancient's…I can't wait to get out of this hospital bed."
Dani nodded, and suddenly she was reaching for the T.V. remote.
"Have you ever seen 'Pieces of me?'"
Amber frowned.
"What?"
Dani switched the T.V. on.
"It's this old soap opera that is so ridiculous that it's hilarious. Back when June used to have to come here for treatments we would watch it all the time. The nurses would always come in and tell us off for laughing too loud."
Amber smiled a little. It was strange; somehow the memory seemed to make Dani feel both happy and sad.
"Can you find it?"
Dani flipped through channels, and stopped at a dramatic looking black and white screen.
"This is it! Oh gosh…this is where Horatio confesses his love for Odette but it's actually her twin sister who nobody knows about who was also in love with him the whole time! She's like got this ridiculous dilemma where she has to try to decide whether to tell him the truth so he could maybe love her for her or keep it a secret so she can for sure keep her man…"
"I'll never understand love," Amber said decidedly, snuggling back into her pillows. Dani laughed out loud, positioning herself next to her friend so they could both watch the T.V.
"Don't worry…the writers of the show don't either."
They stayed like that for the rest of the afternoon, and for a few hours, Amber was distracted from how bleak everything seemed to be.
123
"Hershel."
Syn's voice came drifting through the fog, and the Master Healer blinked. He no longer bothered turning towards the voices; he couldn't see the speaker, after all. There were times when he still did so out of habit, but more often in his brooding he remained motionless in the darkness enshrouding him, choosing to stare down towards the ground.
A warm hand was on his arm now, and he shivered.
"Hershel, you haven't eaten anything," his sister chided softly, and he shrugged.
"I'm not hungry."
There was silence, and then a slight scuffling. He wondered if she was kneeling in order to talk to him more easily. He turned the opposite direction; he didn't feel like having any kind of discussion right now. He understood what his sister was trying to do…but he couldn't entertain her today. Inside Hershel was numb with bitterness.
"You have to eat something," Syn insisted, and he didn't respond. He felt her putting something into his hands; a warm loaf, it felt like. He didn't move to eat it, however. He just let it sit like a rock on his lap.
"Herhsel, please!" Syn was saying, and something inside him stirred at the desperation in his sister's voice. He sighed and finally pulled off a piece, but he could barely taste it as he thought of the night before.
It hadn't worked. After everything he had gone through to be able to see his Master again, he had lost it all. What did he have left? His powers, gone…Phos gone…his sight useless…
He felt Syn leaning her head into his, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"I know it's hard," she murmured. "But you're the strongest person I know…"
"How?" Hershel cut in bitterly. He ripped into the loaf again, but hesitated in eating it, his words almost acidic. "I've never done anything to earn that kind of title."
He felt her pull her head away, and could imagine the kind of look she was giving him.
"Of course you have! Hershel…you've always been there for me…"
"To let you down." His fingers dug into the soft bread, his face twisting into a sneer. "I could never actually help you. It was Heavy Metal who saved you. And Cole…and Phos. And Tolan." His voice became soft. "What have I ever done for anyone but mess everything up?"
"What are you even talking about?" she asked sharply, and just shook his head miserably.
"Our mother was right…I'm useless."
"Stop it!"
She grabbed both of his arms, and he could feel her trembling.
"Hershel, that's a lie…"
"Can you prove otherwise?" he spat. "What have I ever been able to do? I couldn't protect you in the fortress…couldn't control my powers. I wasn't careful enough and they were discovered, and Phos had to come find me. Him getting hurt was my fault…Oilen getting killed was my fault."
"Hersh…"
"You'd think I'd have learned my lesson after that…but then I had to go and let my emotions get out of control again. I put us all in danger."
He was pushing himself to his feet now, his voice rising.
"I betrayed the title I was trusted with…a title I was never even worthy of to begin with! A parasite came into the realm and I didn't even know what to do! It was killing Pippa and I could do nothing! I should have never been chosen…"
"Phos trusted you! He knew you could do it, that's why he recommended you…"
"But I can't do it! Don't you get it, Syn? I betrayed him! I betrayed everything!"
Tears were stinging his eyes now, and he angrily swiped them as they tried to travel down his face.
"He couldn't trust me. He didn't even trust me to stand beside him in his final moments."
Hershel shook his head again, his anger collapsing into misery.
"And now I'll never see him again."
He could hear Syn crying, though it also sounded like she was trying to cover the sounds so he wouldn't know. Hershel hugged himself, his expression fading back to a numb mask.
"And If I was that useless with my sight…how could I be anything short of worthless now?"
"Hershel…"
But he pulled out of her grasp.
"I'm going to bed," he said quietly.
"You have to eat something!"
She sounded angry now, though her voice was catching so he knew she was probably still crying.
"And you're wrong, Hershel…you're not worthless."
He scoffed softly, wiping his face one last time.
"I tried to convince myself otherwise, over the years," he admitted. "But I just keep proving myself wrong."
The interview room was nothing extravagant. Two comfortable chairs on a platform, with a vibrant green screen behind them. News-standard cameras were set up, along with lighting elements. Theo figured this must be where this organization interviewed for T.V. broadcasts. He wondered if he was expected to speak on air, but there weren't any people manning the cameras. He headed for one of the comfortable chairs on the platform, but his guard grabbed his shoulder roughly and stopped him.
"Where you going?" he growled, and Theo sighed.
"Where am I supposed to go?"
The guard gestured towards a small room, and Theo sighed and followed him. He wasn't really sure what the purpose of this room was, but it was cramped, with a table and a few hard chairs scattered around. The guard pushed him in and Theo turned to glare.
"I'm fine walking," he snapped, and the man just sneered and pointed him towards a chair at one end of the table. The teen headed over and took a seat, glaring down at the polished surface of the tabletop. His own pale face glared back, and he sighed. He hadn't heard anything from his parents, and no one had told him how long he could expect to be held captive for. He began tugging at the vengestone cuffs again, as he had been doing all morning. They dug in painfully, and he was constantly trying to twist them in a way that would make them dig into his arms less.
"Stop messing with them," the guard reminded angrily and Theo clenched his jaw.
"When's lunch?" he finally asked. "I haven't eaten since this morning…"
"You can eat after the President talks with you, Oni."
Theo and his guard fell silent, waiting for the President to make her appearance. It took another ten minutes or so, and Theodynn couldn't help but wonder if she was dragging it out on purpose, to leave him in suspense. But then she came in, her face a mask of superiority and control. The guard left Theo's side for a moment to open the door for her, and she gave him a tight smile.
"Well, it's certainly been a day, hasn't it? Now, time to get to some answers…"
She sat primly on the chair on the other side of the small table, eyeing him patronizingly. He didn't say anything; he decided that if this woman couldn't give him basic respect, he would return the favor. Matilda pressed her fingers together as she studied him.
"When's the invasion?" she finally asked, and Theo just narrowed his eyes. She scoffed.
"If you don't answer, then I'll have to assume you weren't willing to talk about it…to be open about your intentions here in our City."
He longed to have his powers at least. Not that he would blast her in the face…but it would be nice if he at least had the option.
"By keeping silent, you're admitting that there is an invasion planned…one that you don't wish to discuss."
"There's no invasion," he said icily. "We were here to visit my sister in the hospital."
She sniffed, watching him closely.
"The only reason your sister was in the hospital is because she chose to endanger herself and a group of innocent children. You're just lucky that she didn't kill anyone, or those cuffs of yours would be busy containing the young criminal they were made for…"
Realization burned through him, and Theo was on his feet in seconds, fuming.
"How dare you!" he shouted. The guard shoved him back into his chair, but Theo pulled his shoulder out of the beefy man's grip. "How dare you target a little girl…"
"She's not a little girl," Matilda replied coldly, leaning forward. "She's a freak. You both are. Twisted, wrong creatures that shouldn't even exist."
Theo was shaking with anger now, but it only seemed to encourage Matilda to continue.
"Your father is a fool and a coward, your mother a demon. Your sister is a devil who's sown pain and heartache since the moment she entered this realm…"
"LIAR!"
Theo was pulling from his captor again, fuming at the woman across the table.
"My father is a hero! He saved Ninjago, countless times!"
"Tell me," she replied quickly. "If he and the other ninja really were such great heroes, why was it they were constantly reacting to threats, rather than dealing with them before they became threatening? The damage inflicted on the city every year because they let things get out of hand was astronomical…"
"Let?! They didn't let people destroy the city! They stepped up to stop them, when no one else did!"
"Well someone is stepping up now; the NCST. And we're here to stop threats like your family before they happen."
Theo continued to shake with anger, feeling helpless.
"We are not a threat. We've been coming for decades, and we've never hurt anyone."
"Some of Ninjago's threats were around for centuries before they became dangerous," she reminded softly. "Such as Garmadon…and if I compare his power to yours, isn't it interesting to note the similarities?"
Theodynn didn't know what to do. He was getting nowhere with this woman…she just twisted his words. It felt like she was leading him somewhere, trying to trip him up. The warning bells rang out in his mind and he remembered his silent treatment plan. So he closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes and refused to say anything more.
"You're going to tell me what it is you Oni are planning," she said softly, raising a thin eyebrow. "It will be better for you and your family if you cooperate."
He didn't answer, and she studied him a few minutes longer. She finally shook her head, and suddenly it was like she was talking to herself.
"It's easy to see the danger when looking at the girl…what with those horns. But you look so deceptively normal. Were you not so pale, you could have infiltrated the city so easily…"
What was she even talking about? Theo didn't say anything, but he was beginning to wonder if this woman believed her own lies or not. She was regarding him with disgust as she stood.
"Are you done for today?" she asked patronizingly, and he didn't answer. She finally scoffed, and gestured for the guard to take him out. "Put him back in his holding cell. We'll see if he's a little more open tomorrow. Or perhaps the day after that…" She fixed Theo with a look that seemed almost victorious. "Your court date has yet to be decided, you know. Sometimes it takes months to get things through our little legal system."
Theo's blood ran cold at the threat, and she smoothed her blouse as she stood.
"Of course, if you were to cooperate, we could speed the process up. Get you and your family of outcasts back to that realm you came from, this time for good."
He looked away, sending the message that he wasn't going to say anything else today. She just rolled her eyes.
"I'm trying to help you," she offered, her tone suddenly silky, but he just faced the door as he waited for her to stop talking. Seeing that he really had shut down, she looked down to study her manicure.
"Take him back, Earl. Make sure he gets something to eat…and plenty of alone, quiet time. Since that's obviously what he wants right now."
Theo felt another shove and he felt both relief at the chance to get away from this insane woman and dread at the thought of spending who knows how much longer in that cramped little room.
Pippa knew that people didn't think she could be sneaky…but she had become quite good at it over the years. That's why she knew that if she stayed perfectly still in this dark corner of the tent, surrounded by various odds and ends, her parents would never catch on to the fact she was listening to their every word.
Her mother was crying again, and it made the child worry that her mother was crying so much these days. Her father was holding her close; they were sitting on the rug, in front of the fire.
"I just don't know what to do; I'm so afraid for him," Syn was saying, and Pippa wrapped her own arms around her knees as she listened to their hushed conversation. "I've never seen him like this…"
"He was out of sorts when Phos died," Tolan reminded quietly, his arm around her in a protective way while Syn laid on his shoulder. "It just took him some time…"
"This isn't like when Phos died," she argued. "He was bitter then…and hurting. And so angry all the time. But it was because he was mourning. This doesn't feel like mourning, Tol…it feels like defeat."
Another sob escaped and Pippa looked away, choosing to stare down at a few dusty trinkets on the ground and just listen.
"What if he never gets through this, Tolan? He can't see. What's he supposed to do if he can't even see?"
Tolan didn't answer, and Pippa could hear him exhaling through his nose. He always did that when he wasn't sure about something, she realized. Something twisted inside. She wanted her father to be sure. She wanted someone to know what to do. If grown-ups couldn't even figure this out…
"I just keep thinking about how this could have happened," Syn was saying, and Pip glanced up to see her mother wiping at her face. "It was Myrah…it had to be. We didn't even know about it, Tol. She's the only one who could have told."
"Yeah," Tolan finally said in his quiet, guarded way. Syn sat up then, shaking her head as her voice was filled with an anger and hatred that Pip rarely heard.
"I could kill her!"
Pippa felt a flash of similar anger, but then her father was speaking in a severe tone of his own.
"No, Syn."
She didn't look at him, and Tolan moved her face so he could meet her eye.
"What happened…everything they did to Hershel. It was cruel. But we can't retaliate against Myrah…"
"Why not?!" Syn demanded, wiping away her now-angry tears from her face. "Hershel's had everything taken away from him…and she has no punishment of any kind for her involvement."
"She's still a leader, Syn." Tolan reminded softly. "If we target her…if you were to do anything…it would still end in her favor."
Syn was silent and Tolan sighed, kissing her temple.
"I hate her too. But she would have the upper hand. If you try something, she could imprison you or worse. I can't run that risk…"
"Cole and Keyda would be on our side," she argued, but Pippa could tell that her mother's resolve was fading. Her father had a way of being very persuasive when he needed to be, and he saw things the way they really were.
Tolan sighed again and Syn turned back to him.
"They aren't back yet?" she guessed softly.
"No," Tolan admitted. "Jaqah and Ret are keeping it as secret as they can; they don't like people knowing when the Ruling family is gone."
"It's only been a few days," Syn offered softly. "They've been gone for that long before."
"But it was an unexpected trip. Even if they needed to stay longer, usually someone would have transported back by now to at least let us know. But there's been nothing."
They fell into silence again, and Pippa rubbed her face, trying to stay awake. After a few minutes Syn spoke again, startling the child as she started to doze.
"He won't eat anything," the woman remembered softly. "I'm not getting through to him anymore. I just…I wish Phos was here." Her voice broke again. "He would at least know what to do. And Hershel would listen to him, even if he wouldn't listen to anyone else."
"The tea doesn't work anymore, though," Tolan realized softly, and Syn laid back on his shoulder as she closed her eyes.
"It's not fair. Even if he did make a mistake, everything they've taken from him…it's too cruel. It's not fair."
Tolan's voice was barely audible as he replied.
"I know."
Pippa knew it too. And right then, she decided that even if her parents didn't know what to do…even if they couldn't make that Myrah woman pay, or fix her Uncle…she was going to figure out what they could do. She wasn't going to give up. As her parent's drifted off to sleep sitting by the dying fire, the child's eyes searched the room until they rested on the jar of poppy petals.
25