64
Mia stormed into the living room, her laptop in hand. Her family members looked up from the sitcom they were watching, and she ignored their wary expressions as she turned the laptop around.
"I knew it was fake!" she said. "See here? 'The Rushford Institution of Fine Arts' boasts only the most qualified in the realm of art. It often takes student hopefuls several years to build a portfolio prestigious enough to receive entry." She snapped the laptop closed, eyeing her family meaningfully. Rather than look as astounded as Mia felt, her parents gave each other a look while May sighed dramatically.
"Let it go, Mia!"
"I'm just saying, there's absolutely no way that this place accepted Colby...let alone offered him a full-ride scholarship."
"Mia..." Jay began carefully, but she cut him off.
"I'm not being dramatic! Think about this...really think about it, without your 'Colby is our perfect child' rose-colored glasses. He's not talented enough to get this kind of recognition!"
"There was a benefactor connected to the school who gave him the in," May pointed out, her tone patronizing. "He impressed somebody important and that's who gave him the scholarship."
"If this was real, why didn't he call and brag about it earlier? Why only tell us a few days ago, when he's apparently been in Metallonia the whole week?"
"He didn't call to brag—Lloyd ousted him to Mom, and she called him," May said. "Can you blame him for not wanting to tell us, when you've been on a conspiracy theory high since he did?"
"It's not conspiracy theory!" Mia snapped. "Are all of you guys blind?"
"You just can't handle Colby having anything good happen to him, since you still think he stole 'your' element," May sniffed.
"First of all, he did steal that, and second of all, this has nothing to do with the element of water. This has to do with the fact that Colby is not a good enough artist to be accepted into this school!"
"All right, girls. That's enough." Nya pushed herself to her feet. "Mia, we're not discussing this—Colby was excited about this when I talked to him Thursday. The fact that you're trying to ruin this for him—"
"I'm not trying to ruin anything! You guys never listen!" Mia stormed from the room. Normally, she headed for her homemade recording studio, but today, she found herself out in the bike garage. Feeling more frustrated than normal, she tossed her laptop onto an available counter before grabbing a blowtorch and going to town at the latest broken-down bike.
She wasn't sure how much time passed, but she heard the garage door open as she finished detailing the paint on the front end of the bike. Mia didn't bother turning to see who it was, and she heard her father's soft voice.
"Hey, can we talk?"
"About what?" she muttered, but after her father lingered in the doorway for a few more minutes, she finally set the paint aside. Jay seemed to relax as she came over, but Mia kept her guard up as she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her overalls.
"Let's talk inside," he prompted. Mia rolled her eyes but followed him in. The living room was now empty, and Jay took a seat on a chair next to a bookshelf. Mia sat on the couch, folding her arms crossly.
"Are you apologizing?" she demanded. Jay didn't answer right away, fingering the photo albums on the bookshelf before selecting one. Mia raised an eyebrow as her father carried the album over to the couch and took a seat next to her.
"I can tell you're upset," he tried. "It's been a jarring month for our family."
"I'm not mad that Colby got accepted into a school...I'm mad that none of you realize that the whole thing is a hoax."
"So you think Colby lied to us about why he went to Metallonia?"
Yes. Mia opened her mouth to say as much, but she realized that it wouldn't really help her family's opinion that she was merely arguing this case because she was against her brother. "I'm saying somebody is lying," she said, slumping into the couch. "This sounds like a classic too-good-to-be-true type of situation."
"That's what we thought too, at first."
Mia turned to her father in surprise, but Jay wasn't looking at her as he opened the photo album and flipped through the pages. "You did?" she demanded.
"We didn't think Colby was lying, but we did worry that someone was pulling the wool over his eyes. Your mother called the direct line to the Rushford Institution of Fine Arts, and it seems like it is the real deal—they said they're prepared for Colby to start classes in the fall with a full scholarship."
Mia's expression darkened as she processed the news. "It just doesn't make sense," she muttered.
"I guess he really did impress someone," Jay tried. "He is a good artist, Mia. Is it really that hard to believe?"
"I never said he's a terrible artist...I said that he doesn't have what it takes to get into this school. This is a place where great artists have to grovel just to get considered. Everything online says it's crazy competitive...some of the greatest artists in Ninjago went there and said that it was the most cutthroat experience of their artistic lives. Not even proteges get special treatment...and yet they think Colby has what it takes to deserve a full ride when he didn't even apply?"
Jay was quiet as he continued to look at pictures. "You've been researching this a lot," he finally pointed out.
"That's sort of my job," she muttered.
"Maybe you should go into journalism." Jay looked over and smiled. "I know you're set on going into media arts...but I've always wondered how you'd do in a more investigative role. You can be dogged when you want to be."
"Gee, thanks, Dad," Mia said. She had started looking at the pictures he was flipping through, and she leaned forward against her better judgment. "Is that our seventh birthday party?"
Jay looked down at the photo album. "Look at that, I think it is," he mused. Mia studied the pictures, sucked into the memories of the past.
"I remember that ball-pit...that's the only time I ever saw Julien panic. He hated that thing—said that it felt like he was getting sucked down by quicksand. He spent the rest of the party moping in a corner with his father's tablet, remember?"
"And there's Theo making off with half the cake. He's the spitting image of his dad right here, with his cheeks stuffed with chocolate frosting," Jay added.
"The two-bounce houses!" Mia said, smiling at another row of pictures. "Because May wanted a castle and I wanted a dragon, so you and Mom finally had to get both."
"I'm glad the two of you were generally like-minded for future parties. We thought for sure we were going to have to throw you two separate celebrations from here on out."
"Yeah..." Mia's smile faded as she thought about her sister now. She had thought they were still as similar as always, but with May's continuous judgment this last month, she wasn't so sure. Jay turned the page.
"There's Colby," he pointed out. "In his natural habitat."
Mia took in the four-year-old beaming at the camera, his freckles spotted with paint as he smeared it on the wall of the house. "Vandalizing from a young age," she muttered.
"He was making a self-portrait of you guys for your birthday, remember?" Jay pointed out gently. Mia took in the blobby figures on the side of the wall—two tall ones, with a shorter one in between holding the hands of his twin sisters. There was a sun and what she figured was supposed to be a rainbow spread across the sky. She snorted.
"And this is the guy who just got into a prestigious art college?"
"He was four at the time," Jay laughed. Mia glanced away from the picture of Colby, looking at the ones of her and May opening presents.
"I still have that hat somewhere," she mused, looking at the patchwork cap she had gotten from the Smith family. "I doubt it still fits though—it's probably under my bed or something."
"May's first makeup kit," Jay mused. "We had a few years of excessive eyeshadow before she really realized how to use that stuff."
Mia smirked a little, and this time, she was the one who turned the page. Her smile faded as her eyes went straight to a picture of her hugging Colby. They were both laughing, with Colby embracing her tightly around her neck as she struggled to hold him with her thin, seven-year-old arms.
"That is one of my favorite pictures," Jay murmured.
"You did this on purpose," Mia pointed out, leaning back away from the photo album. Her throat felt tight, and she didn't really know why.
"I just like going down memory lane sometimes," her father countered, setting the album off to the side with the picture of her and Colby still showing. "You know...I never had siblings growing up. Not until I joined with the team, but by then, we are all teenagers." Mia didn't say anything as she folded her arms to sulk, and her father continued gently. "But I can imagine it's not always fun having a younger brother who you don't have much in common with."
"We have nothing in common," she spat.
"And yet, you used to still be friends, at least," Jay said, gesturing to the picture. "What happened?"
"He stole..."
"I mean before the whole water-element fiasco," her father cut in. "You and Colby have been distant a lot longer than that, Mia. To be honest, the elemental transfer was just the straw that broke the camel's back, from what I could see."
"He was just...always...Colby," Mia accused, her eyes stinging as she glowered at the picture of her and her brother.
"Meaning what?"
"Meaning that he could never do any wrong in your guys' eyes!" she snapped, the tears making the picture swim. "Even back then at that party...he straight up painted all over the walls, and you and mom just laughed. 'Oh, our sweet, creative boy.' Yet if May and I had ever done something like that, we would have gotten in trouble."
"When did we ever get you in trouble for painting a wall?"
"That's the point! We never dared do anything like that, because we knew it would make you guys mad. Remember that one time I went into the bike garage and painted that motorbike with flames because I knew the guy would like it, and Mom banned me from the garage for a week? If Colby had done it, you would have just patted his little head like "wow, our amazing little artist!"
"Our own house's wall and a customer's bike are not really the same thing—"
"It's not about the wall or the bike, Dad!" Mia snapped. "You and Mom have always been impartial about Colby! Don't say that, don't do this. Don't hurt his feelings...he's sensitive. You guys were fine laying into me and May, but I can't remember you ever yelling at Colby. Even when he got himself arrested three years ago, you guys were just like 'Oh, Colbes, we're so disappointed. Now let's go get ice cream to cheer you up.'"
Mia kept waiting for her father to interrupt her and defend himself, but he just listened. For some reason, that made it worse, and she began crying openly.
"You guys always treated me like I was the bad guy if I dared say anything harsh to him...but I was trying to help him! Kids like Colby got bullied at my school. I was trying to help him realize that he needed to change before the same thing happened to him."
"Colby was bullied." It was the first thing that Jay had said in a few minutes, and he closed the photo album at last. Mia blinked in surprise, and her father shrugged. "We weren't mad at you because we thought you were wrong about there being people out there who would attack your brother. We were mad because Colby already had to deal with hearing it all from small-minded peers at school...he shouldn't have had to come home to hear the same things from his own sisters."
"That's not fair!" Mia snapped defensively. "This is the first I've ever heard of him getting bullied, and you're trying to make it seem like my fault! This is what I'm talking about—you always take his side!"
"That's the hard thing about being a parent, you know." Jay turned to fix his daughter with a sad look. "Your kids always accuse you of being on one side or the other, but deep down, all your mother and I ever wanted was for all three of you guys to be on the same side. To be on each other's sides."
Mia looked away, wiping the tears on her face. "If Colby was getting bullied, then you and Mom should have done something," she accused.
"Your mother and I were both bullied to some degree in our childhoods, you know. Mainly me...growing up in a junkyard didn't do me many favors." Jay shrugged. "But we both got to the point where we triumphed over our naysayers...beat the bullies back. We didn't get involved in Colby's problems at school because at the time, we thought it was better for him to learn how to face them on his own. I beat my bullies without my parents getting involved...I guess I thought that eventually, Colby would be the same. But your brother was always more of a lover than a fighter...he didn't stand up for himself."
"He never does," Mia snapped. "He just hides."
"By the time we realized how bad it actually was, we weren't even sure what we could do. He had stopped bringing it up, so we thought that it was getting better. But then a teacher reached out to us and we discovered that it had actually gotten worse...but Colby had just stopped talking about it."
"Why didn't you ever tell me and May that he was bullied?" Mia asked defensively. "We might not have gone to the same school, but we could have helped."
Jay shrugged. "Colby made us promise not to tell you."
"That's a stupid excuse."
"I know." Jay leaned forward, turning to face his daughter. "You know, I do wish I had handled that all better. That's the other worse part about parenting...by the end of it, you finally think you have it all figured out...but it's too late to go back and fix all your mistakes." He rubbed his face, and Mia realized how old her father looked at times like this. Jay had had smile wrinkles for years, but she was beginning to realize how many worry lines he had lately. "I know that you find it suspicious that Colby didn't reach out about this scholarship...but I just find it sobering. I knew he didn't always share the bad stuff with us—the bullying, or the struggles he has keeping up in academics, but when he didn't tell us about getting the element and now the scholarship, I realized my son isn't even willing to confide the good stuff with me either."
"That's his problem, not yours," Mia growled. "He's the one who's so secretive and stupid, keeping everything to himself and then being all sensitive that he has to do it alone."
"I just can't help feeling like if we went to bat for him more if he'd feel more comfortable confiding in us."
"You were always going to bat for him!" Mia countered. "You took his side in every fight, you never yelled at him, you walked on eggshells because of his anxiety..."
"I think that was the problem," Jay said with a sigh. "We treated him like he was fragile...and I think it just made him close off because he wanted to prove us wrong. We left him to do his own thing because we didn't ever want to make him feel like we expected anything specific of him...but I think it just made him feel like we ignored him...and he thought we ignored him because he wasn't measuring up to what he thought we wanted him to be."
"Where's all this coming from?" Mia sniffed. "He goes off to Metallonia and you have some kind of parental crisis?"
"I had a long talk with Lloyd when he called a few days ago. For whatever reason, Colby's been confiding a lot more in him during their training. I would have rather Colby just come talk to me and your mother directly, but it's clear he doesn't feel comfortable doing that."
"Why are you even telling me all of this?" Mia demanded. "You just want me to feel sorry for him so that I won't be mad at him for stealing my element? Don't you realize this is what I hate the most? When you make it seem like I'm not allowed to have any problems with Colby just because he's sensitive."
"I really just meant to talk to you about your relationship with him," Jay said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to go off on the parental guilt tangent...sorry."
"This sounds like something you should be talking to Mom about, not me."
"We have talked about it. But your mother is a little..." He trailed off before rubbing his neck. "She's struggling with all of this at the moment, worse than I am, I think."
"I don't get why he's being so sensitive about all of this, anyway," May pointed out. "You always liked him way better than me, so what's he complaining about?"
"Not really helping the whole parental guilt there, Mia," Jay sighed. "We love all three of you...and we're proud of all of you."
"Yeah, well..." Mia trailed off, and her father fixed her with a long look.
"Colby was our little artist, and May was our diplomat...but you were always our self-assured girl who knew exactly what you wanted and how to get it. You remind me of your mother, in that way."
"Because I'm headstrong?"
Jay smiled a little. "Yes...and passionate. You don't take anybody's crap, and you don't take no for an answer. You've got ambition."
"Ambition is just a nice way of saying that you think I'm selfish," Mia snapped.
"No...ambition is something that often sets apart the successful people from the non-successful people," Jay countered. "Every one of my team members had ambition, in one way or another, and look at us now. It's just how you go about channeling that ambition..."
"You don't channel ambition!" Mia snapped. "It's not an elemental power, Dad!"
"But it can be a super power, if you use it the right way," he tried. Mia scoffed and turned away from her father, and he put his hand on her shoulder. "Mia, you can see the angles in things, and you know how to help people become successful. I know that's what drove you to tell your brother what he needed to fix, or why you put together that social media site for Amber. You know how the world works, and how to help people get ahead. And deep down, I think you really do want them to get ahead."
"Deep down?" she muttered.
"I'm proud of the success you've seen already, in school, and all your projects. You and May are both very talented, and I know that you'll go far in life. I just want you to see that there are ways of helping people besides just helping them socially."
Mia took a shuddery breath, the tears starting to fill her eyes again. "So why is being headstrong fine for mom, but the way I do it is bad because I don't care about people because I'm so selfish..."
"Your mother had to learn how to temper her own ambition, too," Jay countered. "And...I mean...if I'm being honest, there were times in my youth that I wasn't exactly the most down-to-earth person." He rubbed his neck again. "I might have also had a penchant for flying off the handle at times without really looking into everything."
"Like when?"
"Well...the time Cole and I didn't speak to each other for a year because we were fighting over the same girl comes to mind."
Mia scoffed. "Aunt Keyda still doesn't know about that...does she?"
"And she never will!" Jay said, pointing a finger at her in sudden panic. "You were all sworn to secrecy, remember?"
"Do you really think she'd even care at this point?"
"We aren't taking any chances," Jay said, but then he shook his head. "The point is, your mom and I aren't getting after you because we think you're some kind of terrible person."
"It sure feels like it."
"We get after you because we've been there too, and we had to learn. I mean, we both still cringe at the decisions and mistakes we made when we were your age."
"Well, if you figured it out, then maybe I will too, if you'd all stop harping on me all the time!"
Jay leaned forward. "I know...but in our past ups and downs, there were times that we almost ruined friendships for good. Times where we said and did things that were nearly unrepairable." He reached over and pulled the closed photo album into his lap. "You three kids are the best thing we ever did in our lives, and we don't want to get five or ten years down the road and have our children all living in different corners of Ninjago, hating each other, just because we didn't parent you correctly."
"We don't hate each other." The words slipped out without Mia even thinking about them, and Jay looked over. The girl wiped at her face with a sigh. "I don't hate Colby, okay? I just...I don't know. I've worked so hard on everything I've ever accomplished, but it feels like he doesn't work hard on anything. He refuses to put in a lot of effort into anything—his art, his social image, his schooling...I mean, it took him years of dating Dani to even call her his girlfriend! So when he got the element of water and I didn't..." Her chest tightened, and it was hard to even get the words out. "Why would it go to him, when he doesn't even care about anything, and I've been waiting for it my whole life?"
"I don't know," Jay answered softly. "I am sorry that you didn't get the element, Mia, because I know how excited you were for it. But I'm not sure if Colby's lack of drive is because he doesn't care about anything as much as he's afraid to invest in things that will backfire. He's afraid of getting hurt...he always has been."
"But that's just life! Sometimes things don't work out, or things go wrong, and you just have to deal with it!"
"You and your sister have always been really good at that," Jay agreed. "And maybe...maybe this is just another hurdle where something didn't go right, and you all will be stronger for getting over it."
"Way to turn my own words against me," Mia muttered bitterly, and her father put his arm around her shoulders.
"What can I say? Sometimes I think I was supposed to be a lawyer rather than a software engineer. What do you think? Can you picture me out there on the floor with Ashley?" Mia rolled her eyes, and he gave her a squeeze. "We care about you, kiddo—all of you. And we want you all to succeed. We want May to get accepted into that 'Ninjagoan Diplomats of Tomorrow' university club, and we want you to get as far as you dream in the world of clogs and Vitachatter..."
"Vlogs and Vistachat, Dad."
"Right...all that stuff that you're so good at. And we want Colby to be able to live his dream of being an artist, even though it's something that's frankly scared us from the moment we realized that was his plan for the future." Mia looked over, and Jay grimaced. "Don't look at me like that, okay? He wants to try and make a living in a competitive world full of critics even though he hates both competition and critique. We had a right to worry!"
"So why didn't you ever tell him that he should be going into something else?"
"Because if he could make it, it would be so good for him," Jay said. "And here he has gotten someone's attention and this prestigious scholarship...so yeah, even though it was very unexpected, and strange, we're still rooting for him. But us rooting for him doesn't mean we're not still rooting for you, too...it's not a "him or you" type of situation, Mia. It never has been."
Mia didn't reply, and for a few minutes, they sat in silence. At last, Jay pulled her close with his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the side of the head. Then he pulled away, put the photo album back onto the shelf, and left the room. Mia watched him go, but she sat for a little while longer. She continued to cry silently, though she wasn't really sure if she still felt angry or something else. After being alone for a while, she finally pulled out her phone. She clicked into her tracker-app, expecting to see Colby's bubble floating somewhere in Metallonia. However, the app informed her that her brother's phone was disconnected. She huffed, but she hadn't checked this app in ages. Most likely he had just blocked her.
The thought made her feel both guilty and defensive, and she went into her contacts. Before she could think better of it, she clicked on her brother's contact. The phone rang twice before going to voicemail and Mia scowled. She quickly typed out a message.
Hey. I get that you're having the time of your life right now...but call me when you get the chance.
She hesitated as she stared at the text, her stomach twisting as she realized that her brother probably wouldn't call her because he would suspect some kind of trap. The thought made her scowl, but she quickly added another line of text. I just want to talk. Promise. Call me.
65
It always took the fresh residents time to get accustomed to their new surroundings. Zerek had seen all kinds of reactions—some tried to fight their way to freedom, only to realize there was nowhere to go. Some would shut down, while others seemed eager to prove themselves and rise to the top of the village's hierarchy. The hierarchy didn't matter, he knew—the titles they adopted or gave one another didn't change anyone's actual situation. Yet, they always went back to labeling, as some kind of comfort-blanket response to feel more in control of their condition. Just like mankind, he mused. People are so funny that way.
He had considered putting the powered children in with the others, but eventually decided against it. Yes, they would probably assimilate best among their own kind, but he didn't really have time for them to assimilate regardless. The sooner he could get through testing the boundaries of an expendable Oni's soul and power, the sooner he could feel confident enough to fully research the Xinta he had acquired. Besides, he was beginning to wonder if a better knowledge of Oni power would help him in his attempts to obtain the elemental powers. He suspected a link, he just wasn't sure what the link was just yet—the sooner he could start his experimentation, the sooner the link would expose itself.
The scientist watched as his staff laid the older of the two powered oni out on a cot in his own holding cell. The young teen was still out cold from the tranquilization he had received, and Zerek made a mental note. Oni seemed to have a lower tolerance for anesthetics than the more robust humans—the Ninjagoan teen that Zerek had brought in earlier in the week had only been out a few hours, while this Oni boy had more than doubled that in his unconsciousness.
After observing that the boy was fitted with an appropriate vengestone cuff so he would remain powerless upon awaking, Zerek turned his attention to the smaller figure lying lax in one of his staff member's arms, a similar cuff wrapped around the young boy's ankle. This child was the one that did not fit in with the other research he had done...an intriguing surprise, but it was hard to know how useful he would actually be. Even now as Zerek studied him, it was clear the vengestone was affecting him far differently than it had affected the Xinta or the other powered boy. Was it because of his tender age? Or something else?
"Bring ze younger von to my office," he ordered, and the staff member nodded his understanding before Zerek turned to leave. He passed the cell that Amber was in, as well as the ones housing her friend and the Elemental Master's girlfriend. He had left them all alone today, and wondered at their mental states. Perhaps he should let them out tomorrow to stretch their legs and get a bit of fresh air.
Eventually, he left the southern hall completely in favor of the Western one. The library lights were still on, and Zerek hadn't received any notifications of someone trying to hack into his system for several hours. Perhaps Julien had finally given up and decided to apply himself to the more functional cause.
The doors slid open, and Julien and Agatha both looked up from where they were reading. Zerek took in their accelerated heart rates and pinched expressions and smiled.
"Not having much luck?"
"Your library contains many stories, legends, and theories," Julien pointed out softly while his girlfriend glowered at the scientist in the doorway. "But there is little actual proven knowledge about elemental powers to go off of."
"Zat is because before now, no one has been able to research zem scientifically," Zerek mused. "Elemental Masters have been historically aloof, and have often been against letting people experiment on zem."
"I can't blame zem," Agatha growled softly. Zerek ignored her as he studied Julien.
"Your fazer is ze only person I know of who has done extensive scientific testing in regards to elemental power, and yet he keeps his research private."
"Then there is not enough information to start testing," Julien tried.
"On the contrary—ve must start testing sooner zan ever, to fill ze void of ze unknown vith ze knowledge ve vill discover together."
"I will not conduct dangerous experiments on my friend, Zerek!"
"All scientific discovery was made viz risk of failure, Julien..."
"He is not some lab rat...he is a person!"
"Oh...but zat has not stopped ozers from testing and discovering in ze past. Vie should ve let it stop us?"
Julien's expression clouded, and Zerek knew the boy wasn't following the argument. Not that he had the background to do so, he mused. The scientist gestured to the two young adults buried in books.
"You have boz been studying ze bulk of ze day...you must be starving. I vill have someone bring you somezing to eat."
"What have you learned in your preliminary testing?" Julien's tone had shifted, back to his neutral, logical voice.
"I vill have a staff member bring you ze detailed report vith dinner. You can look zrough it and be ready to begin further testing in the morning."
"I would assume some of the preliminary testing was done while Colby used his element?"
Zerek frowned thoughtfully. "All preliminary testing vas done vhile ze boy vas asleep. Ve got a good reading on his general health and vitals..."
"So we will be having him use his element tomorrow?"
"I vas not planning on allowing ze master to use his element," Zerek responded. "Ze more he uses it, ze more it bonds vith him...and ze more difficult it vill be to draw it out of him."
Julien's expression flickered, but then he pushed on. "You said it yourself—there is little known about elemental power and the way it actually works when a person uses it. In understanding how the element flows through Colby, we could discover how to best disconnect him from it."
The lead scientist was quiet as he considered it. "Ve do have ze equipment to study his power usage fully," he admitted. "I built it to use on Oni. I suppose ve could use ze chamber to study your friend...but can you make him use his element for us, Julien?"
The younger scientist glanced away, and Zerek nodded.
"Zen perhaps a fabricated danger vould help ze boy manifest his power for a limited time, long enough for us to collect readings..."
"Fabricated danger?" Julien's heart rate had risen again, and he turned back to glower. "You want to put Colby in danger?"
"Not real danger...I promise he vould not be harmed. It vould just be somezing to trigger an adrenaline response..."
"It will not work."
Zerek blinked at the confidence of Julien's response. "I have gotten quite apt at triggering adrenaline," the scientist mused softly. "Given your friend's anxious nature, it vill not be difficult."
"I do not doubt you can get the response, Zerek...but if you try to force Colby into a fight-or-flight situation, he's going to choose flight."
"Flight vill not be an option."
"Then he will break down. He's not a fighter...I highly doubt his powers would manifest in a time of high stress—especially considering that his element is water." Julien moved to sift through a few reports, selecting one and flipping it open. "These testimonials you found from past Elemental Masters—they make one think that different elements are triggered in different ways. Water elementals mention having to "calm their thinking" or "feel the flow." That directly opposes your theory that he would be more likely to manifest in a stress-infused environment. If anything, it will make it harder for him."
"Zen vat do you suggest, to trigger your friend's power?" Zerek asked simply. "I am not opposed to a single test in vich he practices using ze element briefly so ve can get a full report on how his body reacts to ze use of power...but I vill not spend days hopelessly trying to do so, vile he refuses to use his power and it becomes all ze more fused by our hesitation to act."
"I will see what I can do to get him to manifest." Julien closed the manuscript and sighed. "This chamber...it's not going to hurt him, is it?"
"It is merely programmed to study the infrastructure of a body—picking up on everyzing from heat changes to neural activity. Like I said, it vas made to study Oni and zeir power structures, zo I have only been able to study dormant vons up to zis point." Zerek rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I appreciate your input about your friend and his element. Ve vill boz ponder tonight on ze best vay to get him to manifest, and I'm sure he vill comply tomorrow. If not, he vill merely be choosing to move on sooner to the next phase of testing."
Julien paled at that, and Zerek tutted.
"Your energy levels are low. I vill have a staff member take you boz back to your rooms, and bring you somezing to eat."
"Energy levels?" Julien murmured.
"I do hope Ms. Axel vas of use to you today," Zerek said, meeting the eye of the pretty scientist. She glowered back in return. "She vill not be able to join us tomorrow."
"Why?" Julien asked.
"Because she is unnecessary for ze experimentation."
"I am no fool," Agatha pointed out darkly. "I have done much vork for you over ze years, Zerek. Do you not zink I vould be helpful on ze laboratory floor?"
"You vill be helpful," Zerek mused. "Just not in zis vay." He turned to leave. "Enjoy ze remainder of your evening. I vill see you again in ze morning, Julien...ready and villing to investigate ze unknown."
It was cold, and Raiyn shivered through the fog and the clouds. Blurry colors faded in and out, and he closed his eyes against it all. Usually, the images came to him when his eyes were closed, but there were no images now. There was nothing but an emptiness that left his body shivering.
He was dimly aware of something touching him—something cold. Hands? Fingers? He whimpered again, and all at once, the ice around his foot was gone. Raiyn opened his eyes as the emptiness inside suddenly filled with life once again, and he took a shuddery breath. The blurry colors around him fell back into order, filling in the scene correctly. He didn't know where he was, and he tried to move and look around.
"Vie does ze vengestone affect you so completely?" A voice asked softly. Raiyn turned to it, but when he caught sight of the speaker, he shrieked in fear.
"NO! NO, TENT MAN, NO!"
He pushed himself away as best he could, and the strange, void person sitting next to him studied him with lifeless eyes. "Such consuming fear," the stranger mused. "I am not going to harm you...is it me you are afraid of, or ze unfamiliar location?"
"Teag...Tent man hurt Teag!" Raiyn blubbered, closing his eyes. Images came now, unannounced, and Raiyn sobbed as they flickered through his mind. He wanted to poof to Teag, but he still felt strange and weak from the ice that had been tied to his foot.
"Is zat your name?" The void lifted him with cold hands, and Raiyn thrashed weakly.
"No! No cage...no cage for Raiyn..." he begged as he cried.
"Based on my readings, you are at least four years old," the void mused as his eyes flicked over him. "Your communication is stifled, as are your mannerisms for your age...and yet you seem to hold such unprecedented power." Cold fingers traced along Raiyn's face as the toddler continued to struggle. "So much packed into a tiny form...it must be getting in ze vay of normal neurological development."
"No Tent man!" Raiyn shrieked. At last, he managed enough energy for a poof, and he sagged in relief as the environment shifted around him. Gone was the dreaded void-man and his cold hands and cuffs of ice. Raiyn blinked tiredly around the room he now found himself in, and he sniffed sadly as he saw Teag lying still nearby.
"Teag? Tent men hurt Teag?" he whimpered as he made his way over to the bed with the teen on it. Teag didn't respond as Raiyn tried to wake him, and Raiyn's small heart pounded in fear. "Teag! Teag!"
Raiyn grabbed Teag's arm, closing his eyes to try to poof again, but something was in the way. Raiyn's lower lip trembled.
"Why no poof?" he begged, continuing to try for several minutes with no success. Behind him, the strange, stoneless wall slid open, and Raiyn shrieked as he turned as saw that the void had followed him. "NO!" he yelled. "No no no!"
"Vie not attack me?" the void asked as the wall slid closed, blocking them in. "You obviously have power...and from my research, Oni often would use it in battle or as an attack. Amber certainly vould have, if I didn't have ze leverage to control her."
"Go away!" Raiyn begged, scooting under Teag's bed to be out of reach. "Go away!"
"You obviously have unlocked your power, as you completed such a flawless transport. So vie do you not attack?"
"Please," Raiyn blubbered. "Please go away."
"Vat to do with such a strange sample? Leave you in vengestone and you languish, yet take the vengestone off, and you transport from my reach. Why have you not transported all ze way home? Interrealm transportation is a proven ability of Oni...have you merely not achieved zat level of control? Or is zere somezing keeping you here?"
"No hurt Teag," the child whimpered again as the void drew closer.
"Who is Teag? You? Or perhaps the boy here?" The tent man reached out to touch Teag, and Raiyn darted out from under the bed.
"No touch Teag!"
"So you are attached to the other specimen, it seems. I suppose I should have reached that conclusion, by the way he tried to run away with you back in your own realm. A futile attempt...but it seems you are connected. Siblings, perhaps? I suppose I won't know without bloodwork...but it also does not truly matter."
"Please go away." Raiyn looked up at the tent man with wide eyes, and the void looked back down at him to meet his gaze. Raiyn felt a surge of warmth as he held the man's gaze, but unlike others, the void's expression did not grow distant as he raised an eyebrow.
"You are doing somezing," he realized. "But vatever it is, it is not working on me." He bent down to scoop Raiyn up, and Raiyn immediately began crying again.
"No! Down! Put Raiyn Down!"
"Raiyn...that is your name," the void mused. "At least, I would assume based on your primitive communication structure.
"Please put Raiyn down!" Raiyn sobbed.
"Zere is somzing important about you...ze more I see, ze more I cannot help but assume you are some kind of mutation. If zat is ze case, I must restrain myself from experimenting too early. If I can keep you contained, I can further delve into your mutations after I better understand vat a normal power structure is made of." The void pursed his lips. "Perhaps a chamber lined vith vengesetone vould keep you from being able to transport, vithout cutting you off so completely from your internal energy supply. Until then, ze cuff vill have to suffice."
"No cage..." Raiyn blubbered, but the man had already put the ice back around Raiyn's foot. The toddler gasped as everything inside was pulled into a murky, cold hole...leaving him feeling lax and empty. He closed his eyes as his mind went dark.
Dani's hands were hopelessly bruised from banging on the doors, and she wasn't sure why she kept doing it, considering that no one seemed to care. However, feeling trapped and hopeless had already led her to try to rip up the toilet and the bathroom sink, kick at the walls with her reggie-blue high-tops, and pound uselessly at the door.
"Do you have any idea the amount of trouble you'll be in?" she screamed. "Where is Colby? What have you done with him, and why did you lock us up here?"
There was no response, just as there hadn't been in days. Dani kicked at the door with a wave of frustration, but then she was sinking to the floor as she began to cry. She hated crying, but she didn't know what else to do. After getting to this freaky Mad-Scientist Castle right out of a horror movie, they had thrown her into this room and carted Colby kicking and screaming down the hall to who knows where. She had no idea if he was all right...she had no idea if anyone even knew they were missing.
It'll be all right, she tried to tell herself. Amber got your message...she contacted the police. They're looking for you right now, and they'll come in and find you and Colby any second. She wiped at her tears, wishing she could believe her optimism. However, it had been days, from what she could tell. If Amber had gotten her message and contacted the police, what was taking them so long? It shouldn't be difficult to find Matilda if she lived in this Palace of Deranged Evil!
There was a click at the door, and Dani looked up. For half a second, she let herself believe it was going to be the police, or someone else here to rescue her. The hope soured quickly as she caught sight of the sunglassed scientist carrying a dainty teacup. It would have almost been a comical sight, but Dani's expression twisted in hatred at the sight of the cup.
"I won't drink it tonight," she warned.
"Zerek vishes for all prisoners to be vell rested," the hulking man replied in the same monotone voice he always spoke in.
"I don't know who this Zerek creep is, but if they want me to sleep well, they can let me go! Or at least let me see my boyfriend! I'm not drinking your drugged tea, you stupid, horrid..."
"Struggling vill only result in force," the man warned.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," she growled as she went flying at the man. The scuffle was over quickly, as he was as impervious as always to her self-defense training. There was a little window this time when Dani really thought she was going to make it out into the hall, but in the next minute, he had her pinned to him as he began to force-feed her the tea. Dani clamped her mouth closed, but somehow or another, the man managed to coax it open. Dani choked on the cold tea, and she cursed as the man began carrying her over to the cot.
"You're all in for so much trouble," she threatened weakly. "My friend is probably gathering a whole army to come take you down..."
Her vision was swimming, and the man didn't say anything as he put her on the bed before leaving the room.
66
Pippa had raved and threatened for a few hours, but as time went on, she didn't have the energy to keep up the fight. She went through periods of rage where she wanted to tear everyone apart, to periods of fear where she wanted to cry. More than anything, she demanded that Raiyn be brought back, but the traders would just laugh at her.
She hadn't seen Quazier since he had left with her cousin, and nobody would go get him, no matter how many times she asked. She was stuck in the tent that they had put her and Teag in originally, and in the hours of solitude, she found herself wondering about what happened to him. These were slave traders—that much was clear. But who did they sell Teag to? One of the leaders? Pippa scowled, fighting the chains restraining her once again. Once she got out of here and found Raiyn, they could go get her parents and Prince Theodynn and a whole army and take down these traders and find the dumb boy who wouldn't even fight his coward of a brother. The battles kept playing over and over in Pippa's head for whatever reason, and she couldn't get Teag's voice out of her head.
Hershel's coming, stupid...he's looking for you and Raiyn, and I'm sure your parents are too. They're going to get to this place eventually, and when they do, it's you and Raiyn that they're going to want to find. So just make sure you guys last long enough for them to find you, all right?
"Maybe if you weren't stupid enough to be in this stupid place, then they could have found you too..." she muttered to herself as she struggled with the chains. The tent was getting lighter with morning, and her stomach growled pitifully. Pippa ignored it, just as she had ignored the trader's attempts to feed her. The bowls of food were still piled in the corner of the tent where she had thrown them angrily, but by now, her hunger was making it hard to think straight. Tears pricked her eyes and the chains pinched her skin painfully as she struggled. Her stomach growled even louder.
"Hungry?" a voice asked, and Pippa looked up to glower at Quazier as he entered the tent. "Maybe you wouldn't be, if you hadn't refused to eat the meals that my men so graciously brought."
"Where's Raiyn?" she demanded immediately. The trader raised his eyebrow.
"Where do you think?"
"You said you would bring him back!" Pippa accused, the tears becoming more prominent.
"Yes...if you behaved. It doesn't really look like you've been behaving, does it?" he said, gesturing to the pile of broken dishes in the corner.
"You have to bring him back!" she snapped. "He's just a baby, and he has nightmares. He hates being by himself!"
Quazier looked pensive, and he finally stepped closer. "Maybe if you do what you're told for once, I'll let you see him. Until then, you won't see hide or hair of him, understand?" Pippa glowered at him, and he smiled patronizingly. "Let's start with you actually eating something, shall we?" He pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it at her, and Pippa wrinkled her nose at the dried pieces of fruit that landed in the dirt. Quazier folded his arms as he waited to see what she would do.
"I'm going to bury my whole sword in your fat stomach," she said darkly. Quazier tsked.
"Your cousin did much better at following directions," He pointed out as he pulled out another piece of fruit jerky to eat himself. He ripped at it, raising his eyebrow. "Ate all his breakfast, no problem. Though, now that you mention it, he did seem to miss you. A pity he won't get to come see you today, isn't it?"
Pippa finally reached out to grab one of the jerky pieces off the dirt, taking a grudging bite of the dusty food. Quazier's eyes glittered as he smiled.
"There we go," he murmured as he moved to take a seat on one of the old sitting mats lying on the dusty floor.
"Who did you sell Teag to?" Pippa demanded as she managed to choke down half the jerky.
"A collector."
"What kind of collector?" she growled.
He shrugged. "I don't know...that's just what he introduced himself as. Paid a handsome profit for the boy...but I still ended up with the better deal." He looked her up and down, which made Pippa want to blast the look off his face. "Imagine a new and more skilled Rook...but with power. You know, she was so much like you in the beginning...but when she realized the prominence and independence she would gain in the Inner Circle, she began to see things my way."
"I'll never see things your way," Pippa muttered. "I'll eat your stupid food...but I'm never going to work for you. Now bring me back my cousin, or I won't finish this."
"I've trained many stubborn slaves into powerful warriors, but never one with actual power. It may make things difficult if you always have to be chained up." The heavy-set trader stroked his close-cut beard. "I guess it's a good thing I have an expert in aura that I can rely on to help me get you up to snuff, isn't it?"
Pippa narrowed her eyes, and Quazier stood as he headed over to the doorway. He pulled the flap open as he gave a whistle. "We're ready."
"Do not whistle at me...I'm no hoofer, Quazier," a voice huffed from outside the tent. Pippa straightened as her blood ran cold. For a moment, that voice almost sounded like...
The door rippled as a short, disgruntled Oni pushed his way in, and Pippa couldn't help but stiffened as his gaze fell on her. Imgloss's eyebrows rose, and Pippa's fists clenched in her lap.
"Oh, Quazier. What have you done?" the Ancient asked at last, and the trader blinked in surprise. Before he could say anything, Pippa lurched forward. The chain was wrapped around the central pole of the tent, so she didn't get far, but she screamed regardless.
"You horrible, ugly pig! You're even uglier than the last time I saw you!"
"Have you met before?" Quazier asked. Imgloss's expression was unamused as he studied the raving girl.
"Just wait until my family gets here!" Pippa continued ravenously. "Uncle Hershel turned an Ancient to stone...what do you think he'll do to you?" Imgloss flinched at that, and Pippa felt a wave of bitter satisfaction, despite the fact she knew her Uncle no longer had any power.
"Where on earth did you pick this one up?" Imgloss demanded as he whirled on the trade leader. "Just waltzed into the West and dragged her from the fortress? Do you realize the people that are going to be looking for her?"
"She's the one doing the waltzing—her and her cousin showed up in camp with no explanation. Like I told you before—it's like they just appeared here!"
"Because they probably did just appear here!" Imgloss snapped before turning to where Pippa was still screaming and fighting against her chains.
"My Dad is going to kill you, and then Uncle Hershel is going to kill you, and then my mom is going to kill you..."
"Why would people be looking for her?" Quazier asked.
Imgloss watched Pippa coldly. "Her Aunt and Uncle—whom I previously assumed dead—are the Western Leaders."
Quazier's smile vanished and he looked over at Pippa again. She met his gaze as she strained against the chain. "And they're going to send an army to destroy you!" she yelled.
"Why did she not mention that before now?" Quazier muttered. "Raving about her uncle and father like I would have any idea who they were..."
"It's the Uncle you must fear more than the father," Imgloss muttered. "He'll be able to find her here...you have to get rid of her."
Pippa felt a wave of panic at that, and Quazier physically balked. "No matter who she's related to, I'm not passing up a chance like this."
"She's untrainable, trust me. I've tried. What...you thought you could turn her into some lackey? She'll be recognized the second she leaves camp, even if you managed to somehow curb the feral animal in her."
"You're the animal, you hoofer-smelling sniffer-scratching low-life!"
"Well, it seems I made a mistake," Quazier said flatly, turning to eye Pippa with annoyance. "I should have kept the dreadlocked nobody and sent Little Miss off with the buyer."
"They would have come for Teag, too, you idiot," Pippa snapped. "He's Uncle Hershel's ward. He was already looking for him before I ever even got here, and when they find this place, you're all going to be dead!"
"That's the boy you sent me!" Quazier turned to Imgloss in anger. "You sent me the Western Leader's ward?"
"What? I did no such..."
"The boy with dreadlocks, who you sent alone."
Imgloss's expression clouded. "I picked him up from the Eastern Prisons, where he had been arrested for pickpocketing. He never said anything about being a ward...he would have used that to his advantage to get out of Tala's fortress, don't you think?"
Eastern Prison? Pippa frowned as she processed what the bickering trade leaders were saying, and suddenly it clicked. "That stupid idiot!" she raved. "He got caught on purpose...all to find stupid Dee who wasn't even worth it!" She began twisting in her shackles again. "When I find him, I'm going to smack him so hard for being such a dumb, mop-headed..."
"His brother," Quazier realized, having picked up on what Pippa was saying. The trade leader frowned in thought, and then he chuckled darkly. "That was the game he was playing...that's why he acted so strangely. He came here on purpose, with an ulterior motive..."
"It doesn't matter why any of them came to the ravine," Imgloss interrupted. "Them being here is going to destroy everything we've built so far! They'll be after the girl, and it won't take them long to find her, if her Uncle is on the case. Get rid of her."
"If you touch me, Uncle Hershel will do much worse than turn you to stone!" she threatened, and Imgloss took a step back as he glowered. Rather than concerned, Quazier seemed thoughtful as he studied her. He finally scoffed.
"If this uncle of hers is so powerful, then why hasn't he gotten here already?" he asked. Pippa narrowed her eyes, and he smiled patronizingly. "Does he just not care about you, or does he usually take his sweet time?"
"He'll be here," she growled.
"I know a bluff when I hear one, sweetheart." Quazier squatted to be eyelevel. "Your family has no idea where you are...and it's going to stay that way."
"So, you see the sense in getting rid of her? You ought to move camp too, at this point."
"I've been on the hunt for powered brats for years, Imgloss...I'm not about to give up the one I finally managed to land. Besides, what am I supposed to do? I have the buyer coming back in a few days' time to pick up a very important, very costly package. Scattering too early is just going to make everything more difficult."
"They'll track the girl..."
"Then stop them. You're an Ancient, aren't you? All-powerful and mystical and all that. Just put some kind of spell on her or the camp or whatever to keep it from sight."
Imgloss's expression flickered. "It's not that easy..."
"He doesn't have any powers!" Pippa accused, causing the two adults to look back at her. "See those chains on his wrists? My Uncle Hershel blocked his powers, so he can never hurt anyone again."
Quazier looked shocked, and Imgloss's expression twisted hatefully as he stepped closer to her.
"I don't need power to do harm, you insubordinate sniffer pup. If Hershel's coming all this way, then maybe I'll gut you to take my revenge on his thieving..."
"No one is gutting anyone," Quazier snapped, shoving Imgloss back. "You haven't had powers all this time?"
"I am still Ancient," Imgloss sniffed, drawing himself up to his full height, which wasn't much. Quazier shook his head, but then he started to laugh.
"You made us think those tattoos were the mark of some elite member of the Healing Order..."
"You're ugly and a liar," Pippa accused, and Imgloss looked at her hatefully.
"Oh, he's not the only liar here, sweetheart," Quazier said, turning on her. "I've sent men after your Uncle, if he's really the Western Leader's healer husband. In all our time watching him or trying to ambush him, never has he manifested powers. Why is that, if he's so all powerful? And if he could have found you here, he would have done so by now."
"He...he will come!" Pippa tried, but the waver in her voice gave her away.
"All these liars, claiming to have powers. Kahzym's Crown...maybe I should claim to have them, huh? See how far the reputation takes me." Quazier laughed a little longer, stroking his beard as he glanced between Imgloss and Pippa. "But I suppose I do have power now that I have you, sweetheart. Both the aura kind...and the leverage kind." Pippa scowled, and Quazier turned to Imgloss. "You're in charge of watching the girl, these next few days."
"I would rather sleep in a den of wild sniffers," Imgloss muttered, throwing a hateful look in Pippa's direction that she gladly returned.
"I don't think anyone is really going to find her here, but if they do, better you getting ripped apart than me. You are Ancient, after all...and you'll be able to mend yourself. Or do you need your powers for that?" Quazier asked. Imgloss's expression was deadly, but Quazier didn't seem to care as he continued. "Meanwhile, I'll keep the camp going for the next few days until our royal package arrives and our illustrious buyer comes with our fortune to trade for him. All we have to do is last a few more days, and then we're all going to pack up and start over regardless—we can say goodbye to this Ancient-forsaken Ravine and go rejoin society as the wealthy top tiers that we always dreamed of being."
"Why do I have to watch the feral thing?"
"Because I won't have time, and you understand aura better than I do. I've got to start moving my things to some new undisclosed location...figure out where to have my fresh start. Maybe I'll build a nice structure in the East? Their higher end villages are almost completely made of wooden structures now, and I do think I'd like that better than a tent. Or maybe something right near the Pit in the South—Ancients know that Ottan drives up the price of that land every year."
"While you're planning your future, our doom is searching for this girl," Imgloss muttered. "I'm telling you now, she's not worth the effort."
"And I'm telling you that you're not to touch a hair on her head," Quazier said, reaching out to pat Pippa's hair. She jerked out of his touch, and he smiled. "She's going to be useful, Imgloss...so if you could put whatever petty past you have behind you..."
"This girl was the harbinger of my doom, and I'm not about to tempt fate twice."
"You're the one who kidnapped me, stupid! I tried to tell you why it was a bad idea and you didn't believe me!"
Imgloss narrowed his eyes and then scoffed. "Fine...I won't hurt the obnoxious weed of a girl...but I can't promise I won't drug her."
Pippa stiffened in rage, and Quazier waved a dismissive hand. "Whatever you need to do," he agreed. "So long as she's all right by the end of it."
"If you try to feed me that disgusting tea, I'll spit it right in your face!" Pippa warned.
"Now, girly...remember to behave...or I might forget to be kind to your cousin," the trade leader coaxed. Pippa stiffened, and Quazier pointed a stern finger. "Stay calm these next few days, and I might let you see him before we move camp. All right?"
"You said you would bring him to me today!"
"What can I say?" Quazier said, shrugging a shoulder as he went to leave. "I guess we're all liars here."
Theo caught sight of Tolan and Syn in the courtyard, and he rushed to catch up. "I figured you'd be leaving early," he said as he reached them. "I'd ask if you slept well, but..."
"Thank you for letting us stay at the Central Fortress, Theo-boy," Syn said with a tight smile. "You were right—we won't do Pippa any good falling off of our hoofers in exhaustion."
"But we have to head out." Tolan's tone was cold...but more than that, it was distant. Theo took in the dark circles under his bodyguard's eyes and nodded.
"I knew you'd want to get back to the search as soon as possible. I see you've already gotten your hoofers, so just let me find Dragon..."
"You've done enough," Syn cut in, and Theo frowned.
"I want to help."
"We're splitting up to cover more ground—you'd only be helpful if you did as well, and you can't be out alone," Tolan explained.
"You don't even trust me to do this?" Theo was aghast. "Tolan, let me help. I care about Pip and Raiyn too—I'm not just going to..."
"There are people who would take advantage of you being out on your own."
"I could take a guard; I'll take Ret, if you want me to. But even if I didn't, I can handle myself. I'm not going to be—"
"Theodynn." It was always jarring when Tolan used his full name, and Theo found his argument dying in his throat as the lanky man fixed him with a long, tired look. "Pip's missing, and I can't worry about you both today, okay?"
Theo glanced between Tolan and Syn and finally sagged. "Fine. I'll stay here."
"If they ended up coming here, I'd feel better knowing you were here to keep them put until we could get to them," Syn offered.
"I'm sure they'll show up," Theo said softly, Syn chewed her lip.
"Now that we've covered the Central Province, we'll head back to the West and see if we can get any further there. Myrah sent out search parties...maybe they've found them."
"Do you want me to transport you to the Western Fortress?" Theo asked. They hesitated and he sighed. "I'd transport right back afterward."
"We'll ride our hoofers," Tolan said. "We'll need them if we have to keep searching."
"All right." Theo forced back his feelings of frustration as he backed off and let Syn and Tolan ride away. This is about Pip and Raiyn, not me, he chided himself, and he once again prayed the two kids were all right. He knew Pippa had a penchant for running off, and from what he'd heard, she'd been in a rebellious mood lately. With luck, the kids had run off and were only staying away because they feared the reprimand they would get once they got back. Tolan and Syn's hoofers made it beyond the fortress courtyard, and Theo sighed. "Good luck."