I LIIVVEEE!

Hello! I'm back. I apologize. My beta took a well-deserved Christmas break. :) Hopefully after this things will be a little more consistent.

So how was your Christmas? I hope you all enjoyed it! I bought my brother the 25th Anniversary edition of Legend of Zelda, Skyward Sword. Funny thing is, I unexpectedly ended up liking it more than he does! I'm kinda addicted. So it was like a Christmas present to me, from me. Lol. Hooray. XD I love Ghirahim. Most fabulous fictional villain ever.

Besides that, I've been writing True Grit (I'm currently writing chapter 107), and I watched Once Upon a Time. All of it. All of it that's on Netflix, at any rate. Now I don't know what to do with myself. Does anyone have recommendations for a show on Netflix you think I may like?

Enough of this rambling! Enjoy this chapter, and please review! :D And a huge thanks to my reviewers last week. This chapter is for you.

To the Bloody End

It was when they were about a mile from Cole's cave that they saw the giant bird fly by. Besai stopped walking to observe it as it shot across the sky. It's the same one I saw this morning, she thought. Or, at least I think so. It's hard to tell since the sky's so dark.

"It's just Pixal's bird," Cole said, looking back when he noticed she was no longer following. "It's been keeping an eye on us for a while now, Besai. Didn't you notice?" He touched Sage's arm, steadying her as she stumbled over a rock.

Besai shook her head and fell into line behind Kai. Her eye wandered to Sage again.

Why is she so weak? Besai wondered. Chedva must be at least three months old now. Yet Sage is struggling as if she just gave birth yesterday. Am I being unfair? She pondered that for a moment. While other women were still fighting to get out of bed at the end of the first week after birth, she had been going about her daily routine with her own week-old infant strapped to her back, feeling fresh and energized. And while other women grew weaker with each child, Besai felt as though she were growing stronger. Some called her fortunate. Others called her cursed. All avoided her the same.

But Sage is weak, even by normal standards, Besai thought. And Chedva is her first child. It's not like she's worn from overbreeding or anything… She sighed, hugging herself.

It's not right of me to judge Sage. She's probably struggling with things I cannot understand. All the same…I will talk to her later. I can at least offer her some help or advice.

"Hey, Besai," Cole called over his shoulder. "When we get back to the cave, I'll teach you more moves with your Blade."

"Okay," Besai said. "Thank you."

"Yeah." Cole turned to her. "It's kinda fun, actually, having a student who listens so well."

"Um…thank you. I guess."

"Uh-huh."

Besai felt her Blade in its sheath, tucked in her belt. It was longer than any of the more ornate Blades- and for a good reason, she supposed: hers could not change its size like all the others. But she didn't mind; her dagger was easy enough to work with.

"Besai," Kai said softly, and Besai started. He was standing beside her now.

"Hmm?"

"When we get to Cole's cave, would you like me to teach you instead?"

Besai blinked. This was the first time he'd shown any interest in teaching her. Earlier that day, when Cole had first started instructing her, Kai just sat to the side and sulked. Now he was willing?

"Yes," she said. "Yes, I would love for you to teach me." And she meant every word of it.

Kai's eyes softened, and his lips twitched. It was the closest he'd come to a real smile in a long time. "I can't wait," he said.

Cole stopped abruptly, staring at the rocky hill that they had approached.

"What is wrong?" Sage asked. "This is your cave, right?"

Cole pointed to the crest of the hill. "There's a light inside," he said. "Someone's in there."

Besai followed his finger and saw that he was right. A vein of yellow light- from a lantern, perhaps?- glowed faintly around the rocks.

"What'll we do?" Kai asked quietly. "You think it's Jay and the others?"

Cole flipped his Blade out of his pocket, and it grew several feet. He opened his mouth to answer, but shut it when he saw a figure climb out of the hole. Pixal.

"Get inside," she said, clambering down the hill to meet them. "Hurry."

"Why?" Cole asked, expression unreadable.

Pixal's green eyes were hard, but also a little worried. "I was just about to come and get you," she said. "Suki just told me you're being followed."

"Followed?" Cole looked over his shoulder, then back up at her. "By who?"

Stone warriors, Besai thought, paling. I knew this would happen. Kai killed Nephilim, and now Overlord will stop at nothing to get revenge.

But Pixal's answer was much, much worse.

"Overlord," she said. "He's been following your tracks." She reached for Sage, and Cole did not resist. "Get inside, and I'll cover your footprints as best I can until about a hundred yards out." She growled. "It's a long shot, but maybe, if the First King is on our side, we'll be able to wait him out in here."

"Doubtful," Cole grumbled, worry lines creasing his face. He let Pixal help Sage up the hill. The others followed.

"How far away is he?" Cole asked.

"About six miles," Pixal answered, sliding into the cave. She held out a hand for Sage, and she stumbled in. "But he's moving fast. I'll be back." She ran down the hill, following the four sets of tracks upstream.

There was silence for a minute as Cole, Besai, and Kai filed into the cave. Besai smelled food, and her stomach gurgled. At a small round table, Jay and Merv sat working on bowls of some stew with dark broth. Jay nodded to them.

"Merv." Besai ran to her sister and embraced her.

"Hi," Merv whispered, holding Besai tightly.

"Hi," Besai replied, smiling. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed her sister until now.

"I'm really glad you're safe," Merv said, pulling away.

"Safe isn't the word I would use," Besai murmured.

Another silence settled over the cave.

"We can take him," Kai said suddenly, his voice echoing.

"Excuse me?" Jay scoffed. "Wow, Kai. I'm glad Overlord didn't take your spunk, but…seriously?"

"I mean it," Kai said. "Jay, you have your Blade, right? Cole and I have ours, too. I bet Overlord doesn't realize we know he's chasing us. So if we ambush him…" He smacked his fist into his palm.

"No," Cole said. "You have no idea what we're dealing with."

"No?" Kai's face contorted with sudden rage. "You don't think I know what we're dealing with?"

He spun, looking in every person's eyes in turn. He looked at Besai last, and he faltered. Then he spoke, and his anger returned. "I know Overlord better than any of you. I have more of a reason to hate him than any of you. I-"

Cole grabbed his shirt, growling deep in his throat. "I get it," he said. "Terrible things happened to you, and I'm sorry for that. But don't you ever pretend you have more of a reason to hate the Overlord than me. And you think you're any worse off than Besai or Merv?" He released Kai and allowed him to step back. "You're not the only victim here. Don't act like it."

Kai's expression was unreadable as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine," he said with a shrug. "We'll sit here like good little sheep and wait for the wild cat to find us. And he will find us."

With that ominous prediction hanging in the air, everyone dispersed into separate areas of the cave. Sage collapsed on the cot, and Cole went to the pool to collect some water for her.

After glancing around a moment, Besai decided on a long crate. She sat with a sigh, grateful to get off her legs. When was the last time she'd sat down? All day she'd either been walking, gathering food, or training with Cole.

Merv moved to sit by Besai, but Kai got there first. He plunked down on the crate beside her, casting an icy glare in Merv's direction. Besai's first impulse was to reproach him- honestly, what was he afraid Merv would do?- but she restrained herself. The last thing Kai needed right now was to be told he was wrong again.

Merv got over her surprise quickly and picked up two of the four extra bowls on the table. "Um…we knew you were coming. I made extra food for you all." She went to Sage and Cole first, giving them the steaming stew. Then she served Besai and Kai.

"Thank you," Besai said. Kai grunted.

Merv nodded and returned to her own bowl across the table from Jay.

Besai examined Jay with a squint as she took her first bite of the sweet stew. Something was different about Jay. His skin- especially his cheeks- had a healthier glow about them. His eyes- which rested on the pages of a book on the table- seemed a little brighter.

"Good book?" Kai asked gruffly. He had not touched his food.

Jay looked up. "Yeah," he said. "A little strange. But good." And he was engrossed in its contents once again, flipping the page.

Besai's stomach quivered as she scooped a chunk of meat into her mouth. Mmm. It's been too long since I last had something to eat besides fruit. She ate the rest of her stew quickly.

As she scraped the remains of the thick, well-seasoned broth out of the bowl, Pixal scuttled back into the cave.

"Done," she said breathlessly, going to the pool to wash her hands. "When Overlord gets about a mile from here, our tracks disappear. That should buy us some time."

"Time to do what?" Cole asked.

"You guys are kind of the prophesied Knights," Pixal said, exasperated. "Why don't you come up with a plan?" She sat on the table and crossed one leg over the other. "At least tell us all everything you know about him. What's Overlord's weakness?"

Cole frowned. "There isn't any way to kill him," he said. "Believe me. I tried."

"We can try again," Kai said. "And again and again until he's really dead."

"Absolutely not!" Cole walked to the table, arms folded. "I killed his body, and he just took a new one."

"I'll bet that's what happened with the original Blade wielders, too," Jay said. "Lei, Beun, Nen, and Ara. They supposedly killed the Overlord but he just came back and possessed Colvyr six hundred years later."

"Who says that this Overlord is the same one that attacked six hundred years ago?" Kai asked. All eyes turned to him. He shrugged. "Just a thought."

"And a good one," Pixal said, leaning forward. "But that theory just raises more questions."

"Yeah," Jay agreed. "Like, what are these things, if there are really two or more of them? And why don't they all attack at once? Imagine how much faster they'd complete Overlord's goal."

"What is his goal, though?" Cole asked. "He doesn't seem to have one, besides tormenting people." He looked at Kai as he said the last part.

"And here's another one," Jay said, raising his hand. "Why are we only now thinking of all of this? What has our goal been for months now?"

Everyone pondered this for a moment, but no one seemed to have an answer. Finally, Besai spoke up.

"To be left alone," she said, blushing when everyone looked at her. "We want to be left alone."

Cole nodded his agreement.

"But no matter how far or fast we run," Kai cut in, "he won't let us be. So I suggest a new strategy."

Everyone was tense, knowing what he was going to say.

"We turn around and attack, stop letting him snap at our tails. Hit him with everything we've got. And if that doesn't work…" Kai raised his hands. "…fine. I'd rather die than continue running."

I wouldn't, Besai thought.

Cole shook his head. "How many times do I have to repeat myself? There is no way to beat him! He has incredible strength. He can heal himself. Even if you do get a direct blow to his heart, or chop off his head, he just takes a new body and comes back. He's immortal. Invincible. All-powerful. Probably all-knowing, too. I mean, look at how he's anticipated our movements so far. He knew exactly where along the road Kai would be walking, and sent Senzo to capture him."

Kai tensed. "Coincidence," he said. "There's no way he'd know-"

"He knew when you would give Besai the plague," Cole interrupted. "And he anticipated exactly when we'd reach Cyrus' fortress." He slammed his hand on the table. "All this and more when an ocean separated us! Imagine how much more he can see now, with only a few miles of sand and trees between us." He looked around the room, eyes wild, voice a hoarse whisper. "He knows exactly where we are. We are anything but safe."

Kai grabbed Besai's shaking hand and squeezed it. "If he really knows where we are, and where we are headed, then why is he following us around the lake?"

Pixal frowned deeper. "What do you mean?"

Kai shrugged again. "You said he's been following us. But it would have been so much faster for him to skip the lake altogether and cross the river, intercepting us. It would save him at least one full day of work."

"That's a good point," Jay said. He closed his book. "I think that Overlord his incredibly intelligent. That's how he was able to determine exactly what you guys would do while in Ninjago. But he can't possibly be all-knowing. Only God…um…the First King can do that."

Pixal uncrossed her legs and stood. "This conversation is getting nowhere. I say we all leave this cave and walk in the river. If we hurry, we can make it to Wu's hut by sunrise."

"What's with your obsession with Wu?" Jay asked, annoyed. "He's just an old man. He'd be more of a liability than anything else."

Pixal looked over her shoulder, in what Besai guessed was the direction of the eastern coast. "I don't know," she said. "I just…sense that he could give us some good advice. He's lived here for only the First King knows how long, possibly undiscovered by Overlord or any of his minions. I'd like to know how."

"Well, Cole is not going into any rivers," Sage said, speaking for the first time. She sat cross-legged on the bed, looking a little less ragged. Chedva lay cradled in her lap, playing happily with her chubby baby hands.

"Merv isn't, either," Jay said. "That's a disaster just waiting to happen."

Kai yawned dramatically and stood. "This has been fun," he said. "But I say we wrap this up and head to bed." He held up two fingers. "Here are our options: one, we fight. Two, we hide. No one likes option one, so I say you all just go to sleep. I'll take first watch."

"I'm the only one who can keep tabs on where Overlord is," Pixal said. "You don't have a connection to my bird. I should be the one to stay up."

Jay set a hand on her arm. "You've been staying up for days," he said. "I say we let Kai do it. He's right. We aren't running. You covered their tracks. We should just turn out the lights and be quiet. That's our best bet at survival right now."

Pixal relented with a soft sigh. She took the lantern and sat on the floor, shadows shifting as the light changed its orientation.

"Lights out in three minutes," she said. "If you need to finish your stew or get a glass of water, do it now."

Fifteen years prior

Hrymerv ran with her bucket of water, breathing hard. The moon hung full in the sky over her. Sweat dripped into her eyes, stinging terribly, but she pushed past it. She couldn't leave Sarnai alone with Overlord in that barn for another minute.

What's he doing to her? she wondered fearfully. A number of terrible things popped into her head. Maybe he's just giving her medicine. But if that was it, then why did he want me to leave?

She reached the barn at last and stumbled through the open door. Without stopping she crossed the threshold, set down the water bucket- which splashed as it dropped- and went to Sarnai's side.

"That was fast," Overlord remarked, slipping something into his pocket. "I just finished."

Hrymerv touched Sarnai's face, lit gently by moonlight from a window to her left. "She's not hot anymore," she said, amazed. "What did you do?"

"Ask me again and I will kill you both," Overlord said. His voice remained soft, but now a biting edge had come in. "I've decided to change your names. You are now only Merv."

Merv. A cold chill ran down Hrymerv's spine. Merv was what her parents had called her.

What John had called her.

"I will change your sister's name to Besai," Overlord continued. "If I hear you speak your old names again, there will be consequences. Understood?"

Hrymerv- no, Merv- nodded. Besai, she thought, taking her sister's hand. It's not as pretty as Sarnai.

As she thought this, her little sister began to stir.

"Bring her outside when she awakens," Overlord said, standing. "Give her the water you brought. She will heal."

"Th…thank you," Merv stuttered, overwhelmed by this turn of events.

"Master," Overlord snapped, glaring down at her. "You will call me master when you speak to me."

"Master," Merv said. "Thank you, Master."

Overlord nodded and left the barn.

"Besai," Merv whispered, testing the name on her tongue. She didn't like it. "Besai. Wake up."

Besai opened her eyes immediately. Merv swore for a moment they glinted green. She looked at her big sister and smiled sweetly. "Hi," she said, sitting upright.

"Take it easy," Merv said, using the phrase her father always used when Sarnai- Besai- overworked herself. "You've been asleep all day. Don't get up right now."

"No," Besai said, yawning. "I'm okay."

Merv watched, speechless, as Besai stood and stretched, then looked at the moon outside the window. "I want to go outside," she said, taking Merv's hand. Her grip was firm. "Let's go."

It had been at least an hour since the light went out. On the floor, Sage had been sleeping against Cole's chest for a while now, though Cole had taken a lot longer to doze off. Jay and Merv slept side by side, his wood-and-metal prosthetic sticking out beneath the large blanket they shared. He would have taken it off before falling asleep, but with the Overlord on their tail, he had to be ready for a quick getaway.

Pixal had fallen asleep the fastest. She'd just plopped down on the cot- because no one else had wanted it- and closed her eyes, immediately deep in slumber.

Only Besai was still awake, sitting next to Kai by the cave's entrance. They both were quiet as they listened to the river crashing outside, and the quieter trickle of the small pool inside. The wind hissed through the leaves, hinting that another storm may pick up soon.

"…Kai?" Besai whispered.

"Hmm?"

Besai played with a handful of her hair behind her ear, blue eyes soft and distant. "I…am scared."

Kai did not answer. The truth was, he was scared too. Everyone was scared. Even Pixal seemed a little edgier than usual, sleeping with one hand on a knife, which Kai assumed was from one of Cole's hidden stashes around the cave.

"I do not want to die," Besai said.

"Who said you were going to die?" Kai's voice sounded scratchy in his own ears.

Besai opened her mouth, then closed it and shrugged. Her intricate five-part braid was as sloppy as her fingers were shaky. She undid it and tried again. "He wants you dead," she said. "He probably wants Cole and Sage dead. We have made him angry, and now he's following us. To kill us."

Kai watched as she fumbled through the braid again. "Here," he said, scooting behind her. "Let me try." He picked up all her hair and brushed through it with his fingers, smoothing away the mess of a braid on the side of her head.

He remembered doing this for her so many times, back in his homeland. On carriage rides, on long nights in Cyrus' keep when they couldn't sleep, when she was dying of the plague… Playing with her hair had calmed them both.

Now, it only served to make Kai tenser. Why? He wished he knew. Just being around Besai made him nervous now. The thought of what they'd once been was tainted by more resounding memories of what Overlord had done to him. It made him guilty beyond all reason, knowing that Besai had served that monster that way for fifteen years. Or…

"When did you become Overlord's slave?" he asked, separating her hair into four parts.

Besai stiffened. "Um…when I was six. I think."

Six. Kai felt sick to his stomach now. How had he never asked her sooner? That was way too young for-

"Oh!" Besai lowered her head. "You meant like that. I was…twelve."

Kai did quick work of the math as he wove the four parts of hair. She was twenty-one now. Subtract twelve from that and… Nine. She was Overlord's prostitute for nine years.

"I would have been his sooner," Besai said, drawing her knees close. "But…Merv. She didn't let him."

"She didn't let him?" Kai raised an eyebrow at Merv. She slept soundly in the crook of Jay's arm, scarred hands tucked close to her chest.

"Yes." She remained still as he braided her hair, probably reliving a sequence of horrible memories.

Kai waited, content with the silence. At least he didn't have to talk as he undid his braid and started a new one.

"Kai?" Besai took a deep breath and shifted, reaching into her pocket.

"Yes?"

Besai turned to face him, fear evident in her eyes. But also determination. Kai recognized that look. Whatever Besai was about to do, she would see it through to the end, no doubt about it.

Besai cupped something tiny in her hands- Kai had a good idea what it was- and spoke. "You know what I went through," she said. "And I know what you went through. I understand, neither of us will heal completely. But…do we really have to be healed before we can be together again?"

The question caught Kai off guard.

"The thing is," Besai continued without waiting for an answer, "you healed me. I never fixed myself before I gave myself to you. The healing came after I faced my fear and let myself become your friend." She held out her hands. "We might not have a tomorrow, Kai. I don't want to leave this…unfixed."

"Unresolved?" Kai offered.

"Um…yes. That word." She gestured with a tilt of her head to her hands. "I made my choice a long time ago, Kai. Please take it back."

Blood pounding in his ears, Kai opened her hands and found the earring inside.

"I wanted to tell you my decision sooner," Besai explained. "But I wanted to know what you wanted first. After seeing you…" She paused, shaking her head. "…angry. You would be angry, and refuse to let us help with anything. And then you'd want help, but be too afraid to ask. And then…" She bit the inside of her lip, as if trying to stop a flood of emotion. "…and then you would be so, so tired that you dropped your show and revealed your true self: a sad, damaged boy who really just needs a friend."

She pushed her hands toward him. "Will you let me be that a friend?"

Kai reluctantly reached for the earring and picked it up. He swallowed a painful lump in his throat as he held it to the dim moonlight that filtered through the rocks to the cave floor. A friend. Was that really all he needed? Kai knew it couldn't be so easy. Not in a thousand years.

But…it could be a good start.

"Yeah," Kai whispered before he could stop himself. "I'd…like that."

Besai's eyes filled with tears, and she threw her arms around him.

Numb all over, Kai set his hands on her back. What did I just do? he thought, surprised by his calmness. Maybe I really am insane.

"I love you, Kai," Besai whispered in a low, wavering voice, lips by his ear.

Kai set his head on her shoulder, still struggling to comprehend what he'd done. What he was still doing.

What he was about to do.

"Wash the earring in the pool," he said. "Then help you can me put it in."

Besai pulled away reluctantly, though her eyes shone with an eagerness Kai found himself sharing, to some extent. She took the earring from Kai and hopped over sleeping bodies.

Kai watched with a hint of sadness as Besai knelt and splashed the earring in the water, then returned to his side. "The hole might have healed itself," he explained, gathering his hair out of the way. "So be careful."

Besai nodded, tears running down her cheeks. She could not contain her smile as she touched his face with a wet, cold hand. She kissed his forehead, then gingerly pushed the earring through the hole in his ear. It got stuck halfway though and she had to wiggle it until the point came through the other side.

"One more night," Besai said, clasping the earring. She set her hands on his shoulders. "No matter what happens tomorrow, we can be best friends for one more night."

Kai felt his eyes fill with hot tears. He took her head between his hands and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. "I love you," he murmured into her hair. The first time he'd spoken those words out loud in a very long time.

Moonsong, he said to his Blade. Can you make her sleep?

Moonsong thrummed. It had been suspiciously quiet through the whole conversation. Yes, it answered curtly. But you're an idiot, Master.

There's no keeping secrets from you, it seems. Kai inhaled through his nose, taking in Besai's scent. Tears fell into her hair. Just do it. Please? Quickly. I've spent too much time here already.

Moonsong sighed. Fine. The Blade stole away Kai's drowsiness and fed it to Besai in a single wave.

Besai gasped and reared back, staring at Kai with a look of surprise, pain, and betrayal. Then her eyes rolled back in her head, and she went limp. Kai caught her and set her gently on the floor, covering her with a blanket.

"I'm sorry," he said, touching her cheek lightly. Then he stood, threw one of Cole's gray cloaks over his shoulders, and went outside.

He climbed down the hill, pausing at the flooded river. "Let's end this, Moonsong," he said through gritted teeth, wiping more tears from his eyes. "Once and for all, let's end this horrible battle."

You're still an idiot, Moonsong said. But I'm with you to the bloody end.

Bloody. Kai smiled grimly, turning his eyes upstream. Let's hope so.

"So…" Zane sat back in his chair, one leg crossed over the other. "You told me you needed to talk with Vara and me alone. What's this about?"

Josi and Varasach exchanged a glance. The red-haired girl's eyes shined with a light that left Josi breathless. So much life. She reminds me of Cyrus.

"I died," Varasach said simply, smiling at Zane.

Zane paused with his teacup halfway to his lips. "Excuse me?"

Varasach set her hands- one of which was bandaged, three fingers missing- on the desk. They were in Zane's study, the only place where Josi was confident they would not be overheard.

"I got sick," Varasach explained. "Because of the hypothermia. And then I died."

Zane turned to Josi, raising an eyebrow.

"I…have trouble comprehending it myself," Josi said. "She had ruptured organs, internal bleeding, pneumonia…" She held out her hands, gesturing to the desk. "She was there on the bed, hooked up to equipment that said she was dying." In a moment of emotion she faltered, a lump rising in her throat. "Vara died in my arms."

"Clearly she didn't," Zane said, sipping from his cup. "Because she's sitting right there."

"No." Josi took a deep breath and continued. "I felt her body die. She wasn't breathing. The computer said that her heart stopped beating-"

"Did you check her pulse yourself?" Zane asked.

"I didn't need to. I knew she was dead."

"The computer must have malfunctioned." Zane stood. "Are you trying to make me feel guilty for not doing a better job healing her?"

"Of course not!" Josi frowned, rising from her chair. They stared at each other from across the desk. "Honestly, I'm offended that you think so little of me. Do you think I would travel all the way here with her and talk with you if I hadn't already ruled out equipment failure?"

"I thought you said you came at Cyrus' instruction to help me," Zane said coolly. "Not to tell me stories."

Josi opened her mouth to retort, but Varasach cleared her throat.

"Josi…" She looked up at her friend.

Josi composed herself and sat back in her seat. "Go ahead," she said.

Varasach nodded her thanks and turned to Zane. "I was dead…for eleven minutes. Then the computer found my heartbeat again."

"A glitch," Zane said.

"There was no more bleeding," Varasach pressed forward, her green eyes earnest. "My lungs were healed, and I breathed my first healthy breath in almost a week."

This made Zane pause. He looked to Josi for confirmation. When she nodded, he sank back into his chair and leaned forward, folding his hands on the desk. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked. "Why the secrecy?"

"Because-" Josi began, but Varasach cut her off.

"I saw God," she said, eyes distant, smiling as she recalled the memory.

After a moment of silence, Zane spoke again. He looked nervous, but still managed a slight smile. "I still don't see why you came to me with this." His voice was hardly above a whisper. "If you were miraculously healed, you should go to the First King's temple and-"

"It was not the First King," Varasach said.

Zane looked as still and intense as a statue. Then he shifted in his seat, eyes never leaving Varasach's, and opened his mouth to speak. He shut it promptly.

"What I'm about to tell you is very dangerous," Josi whispered. "If King Garmadon ever found out about our conversation, everyone in this keep- Lady Driniah included- will be executed."

"Will be?" Zane frowned deeper. "What's this about?"

"This is about the real reason behind this coming war," Josi said. "The reason why Cyrus was forced underground. The reason why Wu was supposedly lost at sea twenty-one years ago."

She smiled, mimicking her other two companions by placing her hands on the desk. "I finally did it," she said. "I figured out why Prince Lou became a commoner. Why Wu hasn't come home after the so-called accident at sea."

"Why?" Zane asked cautiously. "Is this secret really worth my life?" He gestured to the door. "The lives of my men? Of Driniah and her baby? My father?"

"This secret is worth the world," Varasach said softly.

"Zane," Josi said. "Garmadon, and Garmadon's father, and his father's grandfather…for seven generations they've been keeping this secret. They have expended all their wealth to keep this secret hidden from even the nobility. I'm willing to bet that even Prince Lloyd had not heard of it before his death."

Zane looked intrigued now. "Does this secret have anything to do with Varasach's miraculous healing?" he asked.

Josi nodded.

"And…will this secret help us find a cure for the plague?"

"Cyrus already has already a cure," Josi said. "But it's because of our King's desire to keep his ancestors' secret that he lets his people continue to die."

"What secret is that important?" Zane asked, sipping at his tea. "Hundreds of people die every day, and he refuses to use Cyrus' cure. For what? Pride?"

"There's more to it than that, but yes. Pride could easily be the root of it."

Zane set his cup on its marble coaster, hands trembling slightly. "All right," he said. "I'm listening."

"Good." Josi leaned forward. "Have you heard of the Way?"

"I'm with you to the end of the line, Bucky."

YEAH NO NO NOT OKAY SORRY! I couldn't resist.

Okay. I'm super angry with myself right now because of how poorly I've been writing chapters 103-107, and I keep considering another break from writing. But I really don't want a break! I just want to write, and I want to do so well. And it just...argh! I've got inconsistencies and plot holes scattered EVERYWHERE in the story. And no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to fix them. The problem is made worse by the fact that I'm reaching the end of the story and I have all these loose ends to tie up, round out, buff up. It's a lot of work, planning an end to such a large story with so many different characters and elements and bleep-bleeping plot holes that I can't fill with a bulldozer.

Yeah. I'm kind of imagining my younger writing self to be like some celestial being that went all trigger-happy, hurling big old meteors toward planet Earth because she thought they looked cool when they set on fire in the Earth's atmosphere. But now I'm walking around, gaping at the mess I've made, wondering how on earth (no pun intended) I'm supposed to fix it. Ugh. I don't even know why I'm telling you this. I'm sorry. I just really needed a rant. I feel like writing an ending for True Grit is synonymous to fighting a battle alone against a horde of angry demons. (*Rumpelstiltskin laugh* Teeheehee! When you see the future, there is irony everywhere. Guess I do deserve this.)

On another note, thank you so much for the feedback I've gotten on The Ties that Bind! Chapter two is being looked over by Kira. When she's done you guys can have it. And I guess that sometime soon I should update Confusion for a Companion. Hmm. Hopefully when TG is over I'll be able to dedicate time to updating that weekly. I apologize for being so lax there.

So...you guys. Two reviews? I haven't gotten that few on a chapter since...I don't know. Ever? Even the first chapter of Overlord's Revenge did better than this, I think. Did I do something wrong?

Well, I hope you all have a great day! And by the way, I'll be adding a new character to this story really soon! S/he's actually part of the Ninjago series, not an OC, so I really hope it'll make you guys happy! Any guesses on who it will be? *Hugs* See you in a couple weeks. Please drop me a review? Thanks in advance. Bye!