The next day, Wu was back in the library, at the desk going through the four stacks of books he had gathered the day before. He was already halfway through the second stack and had only found one book that had any information. Yet even that wasn't very helpful. But it was something.
That morning Garmadon hadn't talked to him at all, or Father. This wasn't unusual, but it still hurt. So after breakfast, Wu shut himself in the library for the day knowing he wouldn't really be needed until dinner.
Wu finished the second stack, but still had found nothing more. He placed the book he was holding onto a smaller stack on the floor. Then he glanced at the third stack of books. It was a tedious task he had assigned himself and it seemed to be getting nowhere.
Wu took a deep breath. "It's for Garmadon. You can do it for Garmadon," he said to himself.
He took down the next book and opened it. Then he looked out the window. "But first, a breath of fresh air."
Wu put down the book and stood up. He walked out of the library and made his way to the monastery's courtyard. It was quiet out there, and the training equipment wasn't out. He smiled. He always thought that the courtyard looked better when it wasn't being used for training.
But, if the courtyard was empty, then where was his brother? Wu knew he wasn't in Father's office because the door was open. He wasn't in his room, its door was open too. If he was in a bad mood, he wouldn't be in the library, and Wu had just come from there anyway.
That left about only one place his brother would be
Wu went outside the monastery gates and carefully walked along the outside of the wall until he reached a wider ledge. It was a green space where a single tree was growing.
And Garmadon was there too.
The older boy stood leaning against the tree, staring into the open sky. Wu came up beside his older brother and gently placed a hand on Garmadon's shoulder. "Garmadon?"
Garmadon rolled his eyes. "What is it?" His tone of voice was still one of annoyance, and his eyes had the slightest glow of red in them, indicating he was still angry.
"Nothing," Wu replied, taking his hand away quickly, mildly afraid he might get hurt should he keep it there. "I just came to see how you were doing."
"Fantastic," came the sarcastic reply.
Wu took a deep breath. "There is no need to get snarky. I'm only trying to help."
Garmadon spun around and glared at his younger brother, his eyes flaring into a brighter red. "Well you can't!" he shouted. "And even if you could, I wouldn't want it anyway! Mind your own business." With that Garmadon nimbly climbed the tree and jumped from there onto the monastery wall and back into the courtyard.
Wu sighed and sat down on the ground. He looked down the steep, mostly rocky, hill that ran down the back of the mountain. He should have known better than to say that to Garmadon, but he did mean it. And he refused to believe there was nothing he could do. He wanted to help and he would find a way to.
He looked up at the sky and took a deep breath. "Guess I should get back to work then," he said aloud to himself. "After all, research won't do itself."
Wu stood up and followed Garmadon's path to get back into the monastery. He walked to the library, where many long hours of tedious work waited for him.