Sooooo... I'm late as all get out but my working schedule is getting the better of me. I've been doing nightshifts only lately with only 2 days off in the week so I sleep until noon and go to bed in the evening if i'm free or go to work until either 1 or 3 in the morning and then am home around either 3 or 5 so yeah... sorry for that. other then that I have a quick warning for the end of the chapter. The memory is pretty dark so a quick warning about that. Also this is my longest chapter up until now.
Her shoulders slowly rose and fell in tandem with her breaths. Red curls bound in a ponytail and eyes peacefully closed. She was faintly aware of the sounds of a pencil being dragged over a piece of paper and the sounds of the hammocks softly swaying. She adjusted her stance somewhat on the matrass of the bed she was seated on, taking in the air of sandalwood, vanilla and a field of grass after the rain, very aware that the one the bed belonged to was watching her.
"Ye should sleep." Her voice softly cut through the silence.
He gave her a look, but she didn't see it with her eyes closed. Her normally warm skin had taken a more ashen tint and try as she may she wasn't able to hide the slight bangs under her eyes.
The result of the nightmares she couldn't stop and her trying to summon a shield. Something he knew she was trying to do at the moment.
"So should you, you're exhausting yourself." He could see she was half in mind to argue as she opened her mouth but she thought against it letting her shoulders sag. "Take the bed, you need it."
It was here she opened her mouth. "But…" Take the bed." It took him all of his willpower not to laugh right now. Her face in a pout like a child that just heard she couldn't have a cookie.
"Fine." She grumbled and did as she was told and like he suspected she was gone within seconds.
Cole grinned and with that, went to the deck for some long-awaited late-night training.
Calli yawned when she walked into the bridge, feeling tired due to too much rest. Her normal 5 to 6 hours had turned into almost 12. The sight however surprised her, for one, she had completely missed Sensei returning home and the second surprise was the person standing behind them.
Lord Garmadon.
"Okay, be glad 'm way high on sleep right now, once me mind is actually thinkin' 'gain I'm goin' to go on me rant as to why this scene is the worst idea ever."
"What did she say?" Jay leaned towards his friends who all just shrugged, Calli being this tired resulted in not caring to hide the accent, talking kind of slurred and faster than usual, or just becoming an uncoherent mess.
Kai leaned back. "Something about this being a bad idea. But that's all I got."
"Piss off." She huffed before pointing an accusing finger to Cole. "This is ye'r fault… Ugh, I need sugar… or caffeine."
"It's nice to see you too." Wu told her with an amused glint in his eyes as the accused ninja snickered behind his hand. Calli just gave a mock salute and a glare to the four-armed man before falling on the floor as far away from Garmadon as she could get. The darkness that surrounded him prickled her senses and made the hairs in the back of her neck stand up.
Jay's shoulders slacked. "Well… Pythor has managed to get the first two but there's still two more."
"And we only need one to prevent them from awakening the great devourer." Cole finished.
Sensei Wu nodded and focused his attention on the giant screen. "Any luck finding their whereabouts?"
"No." Zane answered. "But the falcon is programmed to alert us if he sees any suspicious activity."
"Good. If we find the Fangblade, we find Lloyd. Kai and Nya, prepare the deck and double-check the anchor. We need to be ready when we first get word of activity." The siblings nodded and bowed at their teacher before walking out.
Kai however kept his gaze on Garmadon. "I've got my eye on you." And with that he knocked his head against the doorpost.
At the snickers of his friends he straightened and walked out, pretending his dignity was still intact.
Sensei snapped the rest of them back to the topic at hand. "Did you say the falcon was… programmed?"
The Ninja of Lightning went into an explanation. "Yes, Sensei. I don't know where to start –"
Living with Garmadon proved to be… Interesting. Whilst Calli still avoided him like the plague it sometimes proved inevitable. It seemed the man went out of his way to annoy both her and Kai. Whereas with Kai it was more below the radar with her it looked like he enjoyed trying to get under her skin in other ways. Often bugging her about her abilities, or rather, lack thereof.
The girl was currently trying to get the shield up again but like other times nothing happened, much to her chagrin.
"It seems you're still failing." The calm look on her face turned into a scowl.
"Get lost."
"I wish I could, but you need my help getting my son back."
A low growl erupted from the redhead's throat. "That doesn't mean ye have to bug me about it, so… get… out…"
The girl didn't have to turn around to know he was walking towards her prompting her to jump up and all but storm out of the room.
"Garmadon?" Kai asked as soon as she all but slammed the door to the deck close.
Calli gave him a dark glare. "No, Santa Cl- Yes of course it was bloody Garmadon, Who else?" She snapped before taking in a deep breath as she felt she had overstepped her boundaries again. "Sorry, that guy's whole aura gets on me nerves."
"Welcome to the club."
"I need to calm down, If the others ask where 'm at, just tell them I've been scouting."
The red Ninja gave her a salute as she put her mask in front of her face.
The group entered the bridge as soon as they got the signal.
"Seems like Pythor is at the fire-temple." Nya spoke aloud.
Kai all but pushed her out of the way. "That means the Fangblade is there!" He exclaimed.
"And my Son!" Garmadon cried from the doorway, still dressed in his Pajama's.
Jay inched closer to the screen as Cole went to change their course. "That's the same Fire-Temple where Kai and Lord Garmadon first faced off."
Kai huffed and glared at the four-armed man. "If my memory serves me correct, I'd say someone cheated the last time we fought."
Garmadon rose to the bait. "and I remember someone needing their Sensei to save them"
"Guys!" Cole growled before Kai could argue any further, snapping everyone's attention to him. "For the sake of the Fangblade And Lloyd, can we please just get along. Nya where's Calli?"
"I just sent her a message, she's twenty minutes away from the temple but since the last time we've been there, it looks like the volcano had grown unstable. The place is a powder-cake just waiting to blow up." The raven-haired girl explained. "This will be a highly combustible environment."
"Oh great!" Jay huffed. "Just what I like! Fighting armed and deadly snakes in a combustible environment that's about to BLOW UP!" He ended in a yell.
"We will do what we must." Sensei Wu calmly stated.
Zane, who had decided to stay out of the conversation, gave a nod. "Yes Sensei, but where are our weapons?"
The Red Ninja shot op. "And why is Lord Garmadon not here!" With that he dashed out of the door.
"The volcano seems to be on the verge of eruption, guys." Nya told them from the destiny's Bounty. "The recent indicators tell me this place is getting increasingly fragile. Even the smallest rupture can make the thing go off!"
"Then we must not use our weapons." Sensei turned to his students. Cole, Jay and Zane obeyed and put away their weapons. Kai, however, was hesitant to do so.
"Kai…" The boy sighed at his sister's warning tone.
"Yeah, yeah." He huffed. "No fire sword. But only because I want nothing preventing us from getting that Fangblade."
"Or my son!" Garmadon called.
"The serpentine must be inside the inner Core." Wu guessed. "From here on out we travel in shadow."
Garmadon grinned. "The only way I know how."
The group snuck inside, clinging to the walls until they arrived in a crater. The bottom was filled with red-hot lava and a few islands that connected to each other with bridges.
Jay was the first to spot Lloyd, locked in a cage off to the side but before they had been able to come up with a plan, Pythor cried out and pushed everyone out of his way so he could jump in the pit they had been digging.
"The third Fangblade is ours!" He cried as the group climbed down, holding the dagger up in the air before checking it out. It was this action that gave the group away as Pythor noticed them in the reflection of the blade.
"Oh no!"
Calliope groaned as she paced up the mountain to reach the entrance. "Not 'Oh no.'" She huffed in her earpiece as she fumbled with the clip that she used to hang her mask to her belt. The heat made it unbearable to wear the object, she felt her skin basically dry up. "What happened?"
"They've been spotted, how far away are you?"
"Entering the cave system now." She explained, readying her glaive and changing her pace to a sprint.
Inside of the volcano, a battle was going on with full force. Jay and Zane both using their elemental powers to get across certain platforms. Cole pushed through his opponents with full force, just like Sensei Wu and Garmadon. Kai, however, was surrounded and hesitated to fight back. Calli wasted no time jumping down and struck down the snakes out for his back.
"Hesitation'll get ye killed!" She scolded him. "If yer not serious about this then just leave." The redhead knew she sounded harsh but this was the way to get him to fight. With that she jumped out of the way of an oncoming constrictai, nimbly landing on another platform, back to back with Jay.
"Nice of you to join us." The blue ninja grinned before the both of them went into attack mode.
The redhead grinned. "Couldn't let ye have all the fun, now could I? Besides, I can go with letting off some steam."
She jabbed her weapon forward, stabbing a snake in the shoulder and using the grip her weapon had to pull him towards her and then kicked it from the platform. Another snake launched towards her kicking the weapon in her hands, sending it flying over the platform edge and into the lava.
A few curses left Calli's mouth as she jumped out of the way with a summersault, sweat laced her brow as she landed with a small stagger. With a breath of hesitation – fully aware this was the situation she had chewed Kai out for – she grabbed an old pair of twin daggers out from her belt. She had those for as long as she could remember, but they didn't bring pleasant memories with them.
A loud scream from a man, a warm and sticky liquid, blood on her hands and arms and despite her injuries she was sure it wasn't hers.
"Calli!" It was Zane's shout that snapped her out of it and she reacted quickly, plunging the right dagger in a Hypnobrai shoulder before kicking him away.
"I'm okay!" She cried back, voice hoarse, as she joined the others on the middle platform. The volcano was growing increasingly unstable, temperature rising with the seconds and a loud rumble that seemed to shake the whole place.
Meanwhile the snakes wasted no time getting out, taking the Fangblade and Lloyd with them.
Calliope sighed as she let herself fall down, the heat was started to get to her. Her skin felt very dry and her lips were about to split. The worst parts had been the burn area on her torso and arm, despite the protective armor and clothing that covered it.
"They are making the place unstable." Zane called out, stating the obvious.
"Any minute this place is going to blow, we have to get out of here!" Jay exclaimed as he passed Calli a flask of water that she emptied quickly, both drinking it and to cool down her face.
Garmadon wouldn't have it. "What about my son?" He exclaimed and wasted no time catching up with the snakes. Fighting his way to the cage that held the kid.
Pythor noticed and growled as more of his forces were wiped out. "Lose the boy!" He yelled and on his command the cage holding the blond boy was all but tossed back down. Landing so it was wedged in-between the wall and balancing unstably on a rock, the heat of the lava slowly melting the bottom of the cage forcing Lloyd to climb into the bars as to not burn his feet.
Lord Garmadon let out an angered shout as Calli went to stand up, forcing herself to get to the kid, but Zane stopped her.
The four-armed man dashed trough the line of snakes, reaching the pole that held the cage within seconds and hoisted the thing up and Lloyd wasted no time jumping to the safety of his father's arms.
The moment of victory was short lived as Kai dashed away from the group, shouting he would get the Fangblade.
Cole groaned as he helped Calli stand, who was close to passing out at this point. "Kai! It's too dangerous!" He called out. "This whole place is gonna explode!"
"I'll be quick!" Was the given response.
The group all but let out a collective groan as they backed away to the exit. "Can you walk?" Zane asked the redhead. She nodded from her position against the black ninja and fumbled with her belt, removing her vest and sleeves. Revealing the bandages and a black tank-top, it helped somewhat,
"She needs to get out of here, and fast." Sensei spoke as the group joined Lloyd and his father.
"What about Kai!" Lloyd protested as he whirled around, trying to find the red ninja as the walls crumbled farther. Suddenly, the platform they had been standing on cracked and before anyone could react the floor caved in and threw Lloyd down with it. The impact of the stones in the lava made the liquid splash like the ocean during a wild storm, forcing the rest away from the edge.
Meanwhile Kai was trying to get the Fangblade out of the wall he had managed to get it lodged in during his fight with Pythor. With a grunt and one last hard pull it finally shot out of the rock too quickly and then flew from Kai's hands and down onto a rock floating in the lava.
Lloyd continued to cry for help as the platform he held onto was growing smaller. "We have to get out now or none of us will." Wu called out as they were forced to back away once more. Calli, however, despite her condition would not have it. She forced herself out of Cole's arms, despite his protest as he tried to pull her back. She had to help the kid.
She felt a tingling sensation under her skin that for a few moments pushed the pain away, it followed the same route of the burns on her arm and torso. It felt powerful and on instinct she trusts out her arm, faintly registering a pale amethyst glow around her hands as a shield formed above the Lava. Lloyd wasted no time, using it as a platform to step to another, more stable platform just seconds before the shield disappeared. Shooting the group a thankful, yet fearful look.
Calli let out a breath as she all but collapsed. Cold arms wrapped around her waist, it seemed Cole had passed her to Zane in an attempt to cool her off.
At this time Kai had jumped down to try and get the Fangblade to safety, still oblivious to Lloyd's predicament.
As more rocks came down, the group was forced to retreat into the tunnels and make for the exit. By now the Red Ninja had almost reached the Fangblade using a drifting piece of rock.
"C'mon, C'mon!" He hissed to himself.
Lloyd noticed him now. "Kai." He called out. "Help me!"
The Red Ninja's head snapped up, his gaze finding the younger boy. Kai looked between the boy and the Fangblade for a few moments, looking at the blade as it slowly slid into the lava. Then he took a small step back so he had enough momentum to jump onto the platform Lloyd was on.
"Let's get out of here!" He told the blond.
Lloyd looked up to him. "But what about the Fangblade!" he asked with a shout.
The red ninja gave him a stern look. "Forget it! This place is falling apart!" with that he grabbed the kid and use his Spinjitzu to maneuver them over the floating rocks towards more stable ground, or so he tried. The falling pieces of rock made more and more lava rise in heavy columns to the point it completely surrounded them.
Meanwhile the others had made it outside and onto the Destiny's bounty, all but dragging Garmadon along despite all his protests. Calli shivered as the cool air hit the bare skin of her arm and she felt directly more awake and coherent. She rubbed her arms, they felt warm, dry and very dusty and she could hazard a guess as to way.
"Kai and Lloyd?" She rasped and turned towards her friends as Nya ran up to them. Cole gave both girls a look and that was all the info they needed.
But there was no time to react to it, a loud rumble garnered all attention to the volcano and seconds later the giant mountain erupted with a loud crash and a lot of ash and soot.
"Kai!" Nya cried, hands in front of her mouth as she dashed to the edge of the ship. Lord Garmadon joined her, lamenting he hadn't been able to save his son.
Calli just stared at the mountain top. A soft no escaped her lips as another burst of fire erupted and her heart fell to her stomach. She had failed the both of them, there was no way the two of them had survived that.
The redhead closed her eyes and did her best to block out the somber mood and pulled Nya in an instinctive hug, ignoring the pain in her limbs.
Suddenly Jay perked up. "Guys! Incoming ball of fire!" Every head snapped up and everyone kicked into position to get them out of there. But despite Calli's keen eyes it had been Zane that called them to a halt.
"Wait! It is not a ball of fire."
Jay quickly identified the flaming ball again and what he called made everyone breathe a sigh of relief. "It's Kai! He found his true potential."
"I'm going to murder him for pulling that stunt." The raven-haired girl breathed.
Calli nodded as she unceremoniously fell down on her bum, "I'm with ye." She huffed earning a snicker from Cole and Sensei.
Kai and Lloyd landed safely on the deck, the latter wasting no time jumping out of the red ninja's arms and the others made sure to give the Ninja of fire some space which was understandable. The temperature had risen considerably and the boy himself was actually on fire. It didn't take long before the fire died down and Kai collapsed.
They all regrouped in the bridge, Sensei had taken the wheel as Lloyd and Garmadon had their reunion.
"Dad?" The young boy stammered. "Is it really you?"
Garmadon nodded. "It is, son."
Lloyd looked his father over a few times. "Why do you have four arms?" At the question Calli chocked on her water as she tried not to giggle.
"He's gonna be okay." Cole laughed, but the redhead couldn't tell if it was because of her or Lloyds question -probably both - causing the others to cheer.
Father and Son turned towards Kai.
Garmadon bowed his head towards the red ninja. "Thank you, Kai." Kai gave a nod in response.
Zane decided this was a good idea to change topic. "But how did you survive?" At the dark looks he got he decided to rephrase. "How did you unlock the key to your true potential?"
"I knew once I had to make a choice. I wanted the Fangblade so badly, to prove I was the green ninja. But then I figured it out." He explained. "All of my training to become the best ninja wasn't in preparation to become the Green Ninja, It was to protect him." And with that he gave Lloyd a look. The blond gave him a confused look as the others had figured out what he meant.
"What?" The kid asked. "What is everybody looking at me for?"
Nya nodded, seemingly agreeing with her brother. "That means…" She swiped Cole's scythe from his back and the others joined her as she and Kai handed the kid the weapons. He accepted them with a quizzical look. The Nunchucks and shuriken also drew to him like a magnet, floating in front of him as they started to emit a green glow.
"Lloyd is the Green Ninja." Sensei finished. "I thought it would be one of you, but it was him the whole time. It all makes sense; not only have you four been chosen to protect the golden weapons but also to protect the Green Ninja. The chosen one."
"That means…" Garmadon stated, a sad look on his face.
Sensei Wu gave an equally sad nod. "The battle-lines have been drawn, brother. Sadly, our family has only come more divided. Brother versus brother and now, son versus father."
The mood in the room darkened considerably at least that was until Jay started shouting,
"Well the mood is nice and heavy and all… buuut…." He paused slightly. "Whatever happened to the Fangblade!"
Kai sighed. "It fell into the lava, but I'm pretty sure that it wasn't destroyed so, by all means, the serpentine could very well have it."
"He's ten." The loud, clear voice of Calli could be heard throughout the bridge. "He's a child, ye shouldn't teach him to fight!"
Sensei Wu stayed calm as the girl protested to Lloyd's training, he had suspected she would. "He needs to train to reach his full potential."
"He won't have a childhood if ye do! A child his age shouldn't fight!" It was then the elder man understood. She didn't want him to grow up like her, fighting to survive and without a proper childhood.
"He will not be alone in this, you needn't worry about him. It's you I'm worried about."
This took the girl by surprise, her eyes widened slightly.
"I heard you found out your heritage, you nearly fainted in the volcano and according to Cole and Jay you haven't been sleeping." Calli made a quick mental note to strangle the two. "I was unaware you had those daggers."
"I…I got them a long time ago from an ally… I can't say I prefer using them…" The redhead answered, if only to ignore the other inquiries. "But without my Glaive I don't have a choice."
He was looming over her, dark eyes shining with victory. He had her caught in a dead end.
"You're in my territory."He told her, tongue dragging over his lips. "And everything in my territory belongs to me. So, don't think you can escape."
She backed herself against the wall as he closed in on her, suddenly she remembered the daggers in her boots but could she trust herself to use them? She was only 11 after all.
Her whole body shook as he put a hand on her shoulder, slowly gliding it upwards towards her face.
He clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth. "Such pretty eyes, someone will pay a nice price for a few minutes with – "Henever would be able to finish the sentence with words. He was screaming now, screaming at her, from the pain and perhaps even more. Her hands felt warm and sticky even more so than they had before. Despite her panic, she managed to pull the dagger back and he crumpled to the ground, writhing and bleeding. Bloody hands clamped over his eyes.
With stumbling steps, she ran away, body shaking and her eyes watery, as she ran she heard people cry out and scream as they found him, but she didn't care. She didn't care about the people that saw her, she didn't care what would happen to him. What she cared about was getting out of there. As she rounded the last corner, running into the alleyway that bordered the place she stayed, the gravity of the situation started to sink in. She had just left someone for death. Someone near death by her own hand.
She tossed the blade she still held to the ground with a cry she couldn't help but let out, the metal clanging on the stone. It's clean twin quickly followed.
She slid to the ground and buried her face in her hands, trying to steady her breathing as sobs continued to wreck trough her body.
From that day on she made sure to stay clear from there, especially once she learned he had survived.
Soo who do you think gave her the daggers :)
Onto the reviews:
Pappilie: Whew that was a long review xD And even if i didn't answer it already i will do it here again. They don't have a ship name but i'm glad you liked the little moment with them. And i'm sorry for debunking your theories. If you get any new ones let me know! or tell me the ones that you had always fun to read someones deductions.
Aurro sister of Morro: Its not from a fandom per se but I got the idea from the game (And excuse my spelling here) Mystic Destiny: Serendipity of eons.
MightyShipper: I'm actually Dutch as well :) and i'm glad you love it :)
I hope you enjoyed and i'll see you all in the next chapter... Even if i don't know when that will be...