Chapter 19
Ascendancy

.:Lloyd:.

Something wasn't right.

Most times when Lloyd had this thought swirling around his head and the feeling of dread being pumped into his stomach, he wouldn't exactly know why he was feeling or thinking this. But one glimpse to his remaining two team members confirmed it to him.

They both looked awful – Kai even more than Jay.

Kai looked like he had fought his way into hell and back. His hair was an utter mess. The chestnut strands weren't in their iconic spikes, instead it resembled closely to a bird's nest – just a collection of stiff strands messily interwoven with each other in all directions. Then, there were the black bags that sat underneath the brunet's bloodshot amber eyes, that stared with haunt at his bowl of cereal.

That look in Kai's eyes was what concerned Lloyd the most. The blond sort of saw it in Brad's eyes when the younger boy first announced to Lloyd that his mother was dead. Kai's eyes; however, were a whole other story. While Brad's were sad, Kai's was full of forlornness and pain. Did he recently lose someone close too? His sister perhaps? Did Skylor break up with him? No… That couldn't be it. Kai wouldn't look this haunted if that was the case.

Lloyd knew he had to milk the answers out of Jay… but Jay looked exhausted – physically and mentally.

The usually loud boy was silent this morning while he sat bleary-eyed and unshaven at the table, munching his way slowly through a mouthful of cereal. His hair was only a bit of a mess while he had slight bags underneath his eyes – nothing like Kai though.

But suddenly, for no reason, Jay stopped chewing. Lloyd gave his friend a questioning look, but the boy's jaw just went slack. A little bit of milk dribbled out of his mouth. His eyes glazed over blankly, and his head nodded forward. Then before Lloyd knew it -WHOMP!- Jay's head landed right smack into the bowl in front of him.

The table shuddered violently, making Kai wearily look over. However, Jay was up as quickly as he had gone down… but with milk dripping down his face and down into the collar of his shirt.

"What just happened?"

"You faceplanted into your breakfast," Lloyd flatly replied but carefully observed his friend.

Then that was when he saw it. Jay's tired blue eyes flickered over to Kai, who then looked back down to his bowl and stayed silent.

… Something's wrong with Kai. That's why Jay's like this.

"I did?"

"Yeah, can you not feel the milk on your face?"

"I do now…" The boy groaned, grabbing his napkin and wiped his face.

"… So, you two want to fill me in on what's going on?" Lloyd suspiciously asked. Again, Jay's eyes worriedly looked over Kai who only stared down at his bowl, his hand lazily pushing his spoon around. "Kai, what's going on?"

"Nothing," he flatly murmured, eyes never raising to meet his.

The blond could only sigh and look to Jay.

"If Kai isn't going to tell me, you are."

"I-I… It's nothing to-"

"I call bull on that!" Lloyd suddenly snapped, gaining both pairs of eyes for once. "Something happened last night, something that left Kai very shaken which made you stay up, Jay. You two better come clean with me because teammates don't keep secrets from each other."

"It's none of your concern," Kai suddenly coldly said, making Lloyd falter. "If I said its nothing, its nothing. So, keep your nose in your own business and not in other people's."

"I do unless I can see it's tearing the person apart, like it is to you," Lloyd firmly stated, narrowing his eyes.

"Lloyd," Jay called, "Just drop it… please."

"No, I won't until someone tell me," Lloyd hissed, glancing with narrowed eyes between his friends.

"It honestly doesn't concern you-"

"And it does to you?"

"I'm his roommate."

"You really think that makes a difference?"

"It makes a massive difference-!" But both boys were silenced when Kai slammed his fist on the table.

"My parents are dead, okay? My brother is dead! Now will you two shut up?!" Kai snapped venomously, his voice loud (not for the other tables to hear) and slightly higher in pitch.

Lloyd was utterly shocked into silence. His green eyes stared widely at his new friend… who only shook his head, looking like he was about to break apart.

"Kai…" Jay murmured quietly but the boy abruptly stood up in his seat and just as quick as it happened, Kai left the cafeteria.

Lloyd sat slumped in his seat, just staring at the seat where Kai had sat not too long ago. The blond's mind tried to process what he heard but… it was just too much.

"You… You knew about this?" Lloyd quietly asked, looking to Jay who only nodded.

"The deaths weren't recent though… His parents one to two years ago and his… his brother within the last year."

"Kai had another sibling?"

"Y-Yeah… With Brad losing his mother, I think Kai's just slipping back into grief again," Jay murmured quietly, resulting Lloyd to sigh and run a hand over his face.

"… You think it would be more beneficial to have Kai take a couple rounds off as well?" Lloyd questioned softly.

"So it's just us two?" Jay gasped. "Are you insane?"

"Do we really have a choice, Jay? Kai might cause more damage than good."

"I-I guess… I'll go and talk to him."

.:Jay:.

An hour later…

It was so subtle – the small pouting of the lips which were tugged at one end, the narrowing of the eyes and a tilt of the head. That stupid smirk was so subtle, yet Jay could easily see it on Cole's face.

It wasn't hard to figure out why Cole was smirking. Heck, if Cole's team looked anywhere as sorry as Jay's team did, Jay would be smirking too… But Jay would do so in confidence. For Cole? It was a sign of arrogant and premature triumph.

But… again, their team looked awful.

Despite Jay trying to talk Nya out of coming to the challenge, she did anyway… looking just as bad as she did at breakfast. Then with him looking exhausted and Brad missing, yeah, it really made their team look awful – which of course, made Cole smug and arrogant.

"Good morning teams, and welcome to the fourth challenge: stealth. Except of it being a team round, it's an individual round. That is right, everyone must nominate a single person from their team to represent and compete," Master Wu announced, immediately making Jay look over to Nya the same time Lloyd did.

They both knew, out of the four of them, Nya had the best stealth… But with her mental state at the moment, it was pretty obvious she wasn't going to be the one doing it.

"The goal is for the individual to be able to sneak through the entire academy and into the very top floor, the attic, to obtain one a tea cup from my traditional golden set while trying not to be caught by droids that Professor Borg has created. Once you've been caught, you're out so do not be the first team to be caught. The person who can retrieve the tea cup and bring it down here first will obtain a handicap or hint for the next challenge for their team. Now, you have three minutes to decide your representative and to discuss any strategy plans."

"Let's get this over with…" Nya muttered. "Pretty clear it's me?"

"No offense, Kai, but you're not in the right headspace," Lloyd said as he went to rest a hand on Nya's shoulder, but she just jerked away from him.

"I can do this. I'm the stealthiest here and we all know that I'm stealthier than you two by heaps."

"Kai… Please," Jay softly said. "Take a break. If we lose this one, then we lose-"

"I said I got this!" She snapped.

Both boys fell silent. The decision had already been made.

.:Nya:.

Darkness coated the academy like the thick velvet curtains of the theatre; all the bright airiness of the day faded. Despite it being mid-day, all windows and external doors were shut – blocking out all light and sound. Not that it bothered Nya, she was pretty used to sneaking around in the dark like the time she and Kai made their escape from home.

So far, it had been a good twenty minutes since the challenge had started, and in all honesty, it was taking Nya forever to reach the top. Heck, she wasn't even sure if she was halfway through! Nya had been taking all caution with this round. As soon as she heard something or someone near her, she would press her body to the wall and preferably near some tall furniture so the droids wouldn't see her with their night vision. The whole team was resting on her shoulders – she could not mess up at all.

… And the reason she was trying so hard not to mess up was so she could distract her mind from what Kai's letter said.

But the girl stopped when she heard quiet steps entering the hallway. With even quieter steps, Nya backed herself against the wall, next to a trophy case. The figure and the footsteps continued down the path but slowing down as it approached her spot. Nya knew for a fact that it was a student, not a droid. She could just make out the slight outline of his tall body shape.

"Nya, is that you?"

Nya gasped upon hearing this. Her eyes widening as she tried identifying the figure in front of her – not that she really needed to, Zane's monotonous voice was as clear as day.

"Are you insane? Why are you using that name here?" She hissed.

"No one else is in the building. We are the only two left. The other remaining students have been caught," Zane simply informed.

"If we're the only two left, then why are you talking to me? In case if you'd forgotten, our teams are complete rivals."

"I have not forgotten," he replied, before heading down the corridor… giving Nya no choice but to follow. "I saw you looked to be in distress this morning – much like when I had found you on the rooftop."

"We're competing, I don't need any words of advice from you," she snapped.

"Believe what you want to believe, but I do not believe that rivalries or a competition like this should prevent a person from helping another. We are alone now, it presents a perfect opportunity to talk- shh!" Zane quickly hissed and Nya could hear him darting over to the wall and pressing his back to it, so she did the same.

And again, a droid walked down the corridor. But after a few seconds, after the sound had faded, Zane went back to walking.

"We are good now. Now follow. I still have much to tell you."

"Zane, I honestly don't need words of wisdom from you."

"Again, believe that you do not need this, but I am going to say it," the peculiar boy firmly repeated, making Nya groan. "Do you remember what I told you on the rooftop?"

"About telling Jay? I already did."

"I already figured you told Jay. He acts differently around you now. But no, I am not referring to that. I was referring to the speech I made about rain and water."

"I forgot."

"Let me repeat then. Many people associate rain with sadness and gloominess, but it is more than that. It is life and without it, nothing would grow. Now, I tend to associate people with an element. Cole being earth as he possesses many traits that earth would. Not only is he physically strong like the earth beneath our feet, but he values structure and stability. He is very resilient and have strong capacity to weather changes without needing to personally adapt very much, but of course this also makes him a bit stubborn. In emotional matters outside of his control, he does often do not bother responding at all, causing him to seem apathetic-"

"Can you get to the point?"

"No. It is imperative that you hear what I have to say, and no less of it," Zane firmly stated as he stopped in the hallway and his shoes making a slightly shuffle noise against the wooden flooring – signalling that he had turned to face her. "For Lloyd, I would associate him with light and energy. He often shows traits of being extroverted and very willing to talk about his beliefs and philosophies, without prompting. He does not seem to like it when people are brooding, nor does he likes dealing with negative emotions, causing him to attempt to cheer others up very often. He has what most consider to be a natural charisma, and value forthrightness.

"Myself… it will have to be ice. This may be perceived to be biased to you, but I assure you I am unbiased in many instances. But people associated with ice tends to be very calm… and apparently monotonous like I am. They view things in very 'efficiency based' terms and are more likely to communicate heavily in terms of observable facts only. They are very analytical, but not often very progressive or creative directly, valuing 'order' to the point of extreme. In other words, they are efficient, focused and assistive, facilitating and quiet."

Nya carefully listened to Zane's words as they continued to make their way to the attic. Although what Zane was saying made perfect sense, it was confusing her. Like why was he telling her this? What was the point of pointing out similarities with elements and personality?

"Jay I would associate with lightning. He is very interested in the flow of ideas and concepts of an 'intellectual' type and seem almost compelled to educate anyone who engages him in conversation. But being an intellectual type, if he does not have the facts or the answers he needs, his curiosity consumes him dangerously. But much like a spark of electricity, Jay gets easily excited or have radical emotions once triggered.

"Now you," Zane started, immediately making her keen beyond reasons. "I would have to give you two."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because there is the real you, and the impersonation of your brother. Now answer me, is Kai normally how you portray him?"

"… He's usually like that to people he first meets," Nya quietly said. "But usually, he's caring and protective… maybe a tad too protective and a bit of a hot head."

"For that, I associate that impersonation and him with fire," Zane softly said, his hand reaching out to rest on her shoulder in the dark. "People who associate with fire are notably passionate about nearly everything, though whether that passion is a quick sudden blaze, or a steady burn, it seems to differ within a range. They are usually very proactive people, who are not discouraged easily and will keep trying the same method if it seems to be working at all, until they succeed. They also often innovate methods to take on a problem head on, but if this is repressed or discouraged, they often become reluctant to put their all into things even though they still want to and react strongly to suggestions of doing so. They are usually very forthright as they prefer not to put too much calculation into such things. Was Kai like that?"

"Very… He always does things before thinking them through."

"Just as I thought. But to conclude on your brother, he is focused and driven, relentless even when cautious. At his worst, he can pushy, overly protective and easily angered, but he does it all for the people he loves – like you."

Nya immediately bit on her lip, feeling the tears starting to burn at her eyes.

I love you, Nya. I need you to really know that. I love you so much that all I want is for your happiness. That's why I tried to take the hits from Aidan instead of you getting it because I hated seeing you in pain. That's why I wanted us to run because I hated seeing you so miserable in that hellhole. But this is also why I'm writing this.

"Please do not be upset, Nya."

"I-I'm sorry," she whispered. But she couldn't help it.

The grief and remorse she had tried so hard to block out for this entire challenge was coming back… and it came back in waves. Suddenly, it was so overwhelming that Nya felt herself stumble back but Zane's hands firmly kept her on her feet – but the grief didn't stop. It crashed down on her violently and harshly; engulfing her entire being and devastating her already tattered heard. The grief that surged through her was heard in every expelled breath, always reaching high peaks, never sufficiently soothed by her long intakes of the heavy hair.

"Nya. Nya, listen to me. You need to take in deep breaths."

She was trying. God, she was trying so hard but no matter what, every breath she took was never enough to satisfy her aching lungs.

"Listen to my voice, okay? Just concentrate on what I have to say and let it soothe you."

Nya only managed to respond with a small nod, which Zane just happened to see despite the darkness.

"You want to know what I associate you with? Water. The same water as in the showers. The same water that pours from the clouds. The same water your own tears are made up of. Water represents sadness, sorrows and misery – the very things that you are filled of… but it is also life. Everything that exists in the world is because of water. And I know, for a fact, that you also represent life, Nya.

"Look what life has done to you. It has thrown so many obstacles in your way. Some have knocked you down, but you always get back up. You keep fighting on to live. After your brother's death, you did not commit suicide. You stayed alive, for him – and I know that he would want the same. You adapt to these changes in your life. It may take forever, and it may not be easy, but you still adapt, and you still live on – exactly like water.

"As much as you try to hold your emotions, I know once they are out, they are out, and they come strongly. You get expressive about emotional matters. But you react more strongly to emotional disturbances or unpleasant situations than most other elemental personalities. I have read that with people who possess the water element, if this emotional disturbance or unpleasant situation is repressed, they often struggle to 'prove' that nothing bothers them, or worse, become obsessed with control to prevent it – something I am starting to see more often since this is not a thing you can keep suppressed for long.

"But I understand that you are understanding, nurturing and empathetic. You might not know it, but I overheard the talk you gave to Brad about his own mother – yes, I was in the courtyard for that. At the same time, though, at your worst, you are moody, prone to grudges and negativity, spiteful and predatory… which I guess does shine through your impersonation of your brother."

Throughout the whole time that Zane was talking, Nya did find that his monotonous voice and his… his slightly inspirational speech did cause her to calm down considerably. She no longer found it hard to breathe. She no longer felt that she was being crushed underneath the overbearing weight of her insecurities, fears and anxiety-

However, the two of them froze into place when they heard the familiar, yet distant whirring of a droid. Nya immediately leapt to hide behind another trophy shelf while she could faintly see Zane hiding behind a baby palm pot plant.

Nya honestly didn't know what she was going to do when a droid would see her. Originally, she had thought that once the droid sees you, game over. That wasn't the case at all. Wu did tell them that they have a chance to outrun the droid and lose it… which would still be an impossible task to achieve since Borg did say he had designed these droids to be able to fight back with basic counterattacks until they can overpower students and carry them out of the academy and to where everyone else was – just to ensure there was no cheating. Heck, these droids probably have night vision so they could see things clearly and well! The actual real humans? Absolutely not.

"You there! Behind the plant!" Came the most monotonous and robotic voice sound – which Nya immediately knew it was from the droid.

Within a second, she heard Zane sprinting down the hallway -back to where they had come from- making the droid run after him.

Nya knew, for a fact, that if only one student could be able to escape a droid, it would be Zane. This was not good news to her since it meant that Zane would still stay in the round… and she couldn't allow her team to lose to them again.

Quickly, Nya darted out from behind the shelf and quickly went down the corridor. She had to win this for Jay, Lloyd and Brad.

However, once Nya entered the next floor, she froze when she could see the faint outline of a droid right in front of her.

Are you serious?!

"Hold it!"

Nya didn't listen. Heck, why would she?

The first thing she did was turn back around and run down the stairs. She could hear the droid running after her – its heavy and metallic steps echoing in the narrow stairway. However, Nya remembered that with this stairway, there was a metal bar running along the roof of the stairway. Why? It was for teachers and staff to hang up decorations for events. At the moment, it provided Nya a perfect plan.

Her hands immediately reached up and clasped onto the metal bar and she swung her body forward so her legs could go up in the air and her ankles could hook onto another bar. She must have done so just in time before the droid could grab her because she suddenly heard a series of bangs and loud clangs falling down the stairs.

Nya wasted no time. She quickly let go to rushed up the stairs before the droid could get time to recover.

Deep down, Nya knew she couldn't outrun the droid forever. Eventually, it would try to grab her and fighting a droid in the dark was a fight she was going to lose.

How to lose it? How how how how how-?

Nya mentally scowled when she heard the heavy footsteps again, following her… and another set of footsteps in front of her. A profanity instantly went off in her head as she realised that there was no way she was going to escape this. Zane was going to win. Cole's team was going to win again. She was going to let down her team-

Nya paused in her step, despite hearing the droid behind her only being two hallways away and the one in front of her a few away. Apart from the heavy footsteps and the whirring of machinery, Nya's ears could hear the whistling sound of wind seeping in through the gap between the window frame.

The girl rushed over to the window and ripped open the curtains – blinding her retinas with the sudden light but with the echoing and pounding footsteps, Nya forced her eyes to stay open as she pushed open the window and immediately climbed out of it.

She could hear a collective gasp from the crowd below, but Nya quickly shut the window and climbed up the exterior of the monastery-styled academy. Judging from how high she was up and how much of the building she had left to climb, Nya could tell she had another three floors to go – one more until she reached where the roof started.

Climbing trees were one thing, climbing a building was a whole other thing. Unlike a tree, there were no grooves for her fingers and feet to grasp onto, unless she overstretched to grab onto the windowsill from above.

"Kai! Be careful!" She could hear Lloyd yell from below, but Nya paid him no attention as she focused on climbing as much as she could before the droid would follow her out-

Too late. It already did… and climbing a lot faster than she did.

Nya just managed to throw herself onto the tiled roof when the droid jumped on with relative ease and faced her, arms raised in a basic defence stance. Nya did the same. She could potentially beat the droid – after all, she wasn't in darkness anymore.

She kept her amber eyes firmly on the droid, watching every limb and waiting for its first attack… which it did after a few seconds. Nya dodged every punch and kick it threw, slowly walking backwards and up the roof so if she were to fall, it wouldn't be off the roof and to her death.

But suddenly, she noticed a slight hesitation in the robot whenever it would kick with the left leg – which meant an opening for her to get her attacks in. So, she waited, dodging every other limb it was throwing.

Right leg. Left arm. Right arm. Left arm. Right arm. Right leg.

Then, Nya saw the hesitation again, and immediately, she knew the next attack would be from the left leg. She readied her hands and watched as the left leg raised to deliver a basic kick. The girl grasped onto the limb, slightly grunting as the power behind the legs made her arms struggle to keep a hold on the limb but she growled lowly as she gave a sudden and violent shove. The droid stumbled back, losing its balance.

Nya wasted no time in quickly stepping forward and delivering a kick of her own right at the chest of the droid. This time, it fell and stumbled down the curved declination of the roof. That didn't stop Nya. Instead, she followed the metallic body down the roof until it came to a stop – right next to the edge of the roof.

There, and then, Nya delivered the final kick – kicking the metallic body off the roof. She leaned over, watching as the body flailed in the air before smashing into pieces upon impact on the ground, erupting loud cheers from the students.

"Sorry, professor Borg!" She shouted before turning back to the inclination of the roof and starting to ascend.

.::.

It took Nya a good five minutes to climbs up to the very top of the academy and climb into the window of the attic – but she didn't enter straight away. She first opened the window and observed the dark and dusty attic to ensure she wouldn't get any surprise attacks from any more droids. In her rare luck, there was none.

That didn't stop Nya from proceeding with caution. Each step that made contact on the wooden floor creaked from under her weight, which the sound then travelled and echoed within the attic, making the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

Just find the tea cup. Find it before a droid comes and before Zane comes up here too. Just look for something gold and shiny… Master Wu did say it's a golden teacup- AH HA!

A triumphant smile entered the brunette's lips as her eyes spotted the little object sitting on top of a round end table. She wasted no time in retrieving it. She placed it securely into her pocket and just as she was about to leave the attic, something caught her attention.

A wooden paraglider was propped up against the wall of the attic, with canvas sheets as the wings and the structure pulling the canvas being bamboo… But it was the name on one of the bamboo support beams that caught her attention. Why? Because it was Jay's name-

BANG!

Nya jumped, looking over her shoulder and see Zane entering the room in a hurried rush, harsh pants exiting his mouth as he tried to shut the door… but was unsuccessful as two droids pushed against the door, making the tall boy stumble back.

On impulse, Nya grasped onto the paraglider and lifted it up before hurriedly rushing out of the attic. There was no way she was going to help Zane. Call her selfish but she knew if she helped Zane, she could cost her team the round and the handicap for the next round which they probably needed considering Brad was going to be gone for a couple days.

She threw the contraption with care out of the window – after all, if she damaged it, it might just cost her life.

Nya hurriedly looked over her shoulder and panicked slightly to see one of the two droids rushing over to her. The girl leapt out of the window and onto the roof but when she looked up, the droid had just got to the window.

In a rush, Nya got up, picking up the glider and rushing to the edge of the roof. She held the glider in front of her, feeling the winds starting to pick. She could hear many more startled exclamations from the crowd below but that didn't stop her, if anything, it made her run faster… until she got to the edge of the roof and leapt off.

Suddenly, the rush of adrenaline Nya felt before vanished as she felt the contraption drop, but this was short lived as the canvas wings suddenly caught onto the wind and the glider soar through the air. Nya's ears could hear the rushing sound of the wind along with the students' cheers.

Eventually, after many few long seconds, Nya reached the ground… before shortly being tackled onto the ground by Jay and Lloyd.

"You did it!"

"I can't believe the glider flies!"

"Get off me!" Nya grunted since when the boys tackled her down, she had landed rather uncomfortably onto the glider… but she couldn't help but laugh.

Why? Because for once, Nya felt like she didn't fail.

And it was enough to put a grand smile onto her lips.

Okay… So rushed ending but that was because I wanted the chapter to end there but not be this gigantic! Well… What's considered gigantic to this story because my favourite FanFiction at the moment, the writer posts freaking 19 000 worded chapters, once 37 000!

But massive thanks to: Sunny Lighter, indira21kh, Inspirations of Life, naoninja, RebelutionaryWrites, Natalie Singe, unknown, Guest, AuroraRain18 and all my silent readers!

Can't reply to any reviews at the moment but I'll see you all in the next chapter and another round of the competition! Xoxo – ZaneLoverFan88