Jessica's P.O.V.
Okay, last night and my reactions? Not the best. But I knew that if I ran away, suspicion would arise and it could lead to them finding out about me targeting Lloyd. But what Celeta had said made me incredibly angry. Did she really think that I hadn't made sure I wasn't the heir? The Elder Spirit had purified me of any evil energy, all from just living with my father, and checked that the ceremony of changing your heirs to your power didn't require the original.
Leaning up, I wasn't expecting to see Celeta on her now usual perch, fast asleep. Guess she had forgiven me. Somewhat. I got out of bed quietly and headed outside, bow and arrows on my back and my dagger in its sheath. However, my Uncle Wu was on the deck, drinking some tea. "Good morning. You say you're out for a morning run, yet you bring your bow with you?" He asked.
"You can never be too careful." I reply carefully. Truth is that this is when I train by myself. My meditation is always afterword to clear my head, not just to stabilize my spiritual powers. But there is no harm in keeping secrets, especially ones that can harm you later. Thankfully, Uncle Wu seemed to swallow the lie and nodded. Walking away and later running, I had to wonder if Lloyd had told anyone about last night's argument. I shrugged it off while I worked on my accuracy with my arrows for an hour before returning.
When I returned, all of the ninja with the exception of Cole were ignoring me. Yep, Lloyd had told about the argument. Personally, I couldn't care less, but the way they looked at me like I was the gum under their shoes made me angry. I contained it until I was back in my room. Celeta was still in her perch, but it was clear that she was faking. So she hadn't forgiven me. Just great.
Meditation was a blessing; complete silence and no angry glares from people. When I awoke five hours later, I felt slightly better. That feeling vanished as I opened the door and found Lloyd and Uncle Wu outside. "We need to talk." Uncle Wu tells me.
"No, we don't." I spat, and tried to close the door. Lloyd stopped me, and I scowled. "Fine, what's it about? The argument?" I ask.
"Jessica, you are closing yourself off. Why?" Uncle Wu asks, feigning concern.
"Maybe I have my own reasons and a part of the reasons is I can't tell you." I was holding back my anger as best I could, but my ability to restrain it was slipping fast.
"Why? Because you can't trust us?" Lloyd asks angrily.
"Here, I'll give you a hint. Ask our father. He's one of the reasons, and he can tell you." I feel my voice rising, and I'm trying to not lose control and start using my spiritual powers, because if that happens, bye-bye me, at the very least.
"Jessica, without trust, you and your brother will become enemies. And you are both powerful enemies to have." Uncle Wu warns us both.
"Uncle, she just doesn't get it. She's not my sister." Lloyd spat in my face.
"Bad. Move." I whisper, and my hand shoots to his throat. I slam him against the wall, only to find all of the other ninja and Nya have arrived and are now giving me dirty looks. "I'm leaving. You can keep Celeta; she hates me as well now." I say, closing the door. I gather my things, and listen outside the door. I make my breathing more even and quiet to hear their conversation.
"I'm glad she's leaving. She's a pain in the ass." Kai remarks. I frown. He's a hothead and jerk.
"Personally, I expected more of my niece. It seems she has more of her father's personality than one would have wanted." Uncle Wu says. I clench my fists. Listen to them; if they knew I was listening, they wouldn't be nearly as cocky. I half-expect Celeta to pitch in about all of my other flaws until she flew in from the window.
Where have you been? My voice, despite my anger, sounds relieved.
Dusk Forest. I now know you took necessary precautions with your father. I'm sorry for doubting you earlier. I smile slightly.
Glad you're okay. Oh, and everyone hates me.
What happened?
I pinned Lloyd against a wall. He spat on me.
Not your best approach. But time away could do you a world of good. I nod and opened the door.
"Sorry to break up your little gathering on all of my flaws but like I said I'm leaving. Celeta's coming, though." I slung my bag over my shoulder but Kai wants the last word.
"You know, you're really a brat, aren't you?" I stop in my tracks. Celeta scowls, but he doesn't notice.
"Kai, not the best time-" Nya began but he cut her off.
"Nya, she's been nothing but rude since she started living here for no reason-"
"No reason? No reason?! Listen here, buddy, you try the pain, the sadness, the anger I hold back, then you can say I have no reason." I hiss, my hand touching my dagger's hilt.
"Yeah right." Kai snorts. That's it. My anger takes over and my entire necklace glows.
Jessica, stop before you lost control! Celeta screams, but she's too late. My hand opens and my eyes glow silver.
"You want a taste? Here, I'll give you one!" I cry, and a portion of my necklace disappears in exchange for a orb of light in my palm. I throw it at the others' feet and Kai sneers, as though questioning my accuracy. But the orb surrounds them and the screams start. It takes every ounce of control in my body to not smile at their pain. But it's that same control makes me realize what I'm doing.
Celeta! Stop the spell! I plead. She responds by tearing my necklace off my neck. The spell ends immediately.
I fall onto my knees, panting and sweating. That probably scarred me for life. Not to mention drained a good chunk of my necklace.
"What the hell just happened?" Jay asks his face so pale it looked white.
"About fifteen seconds of my daily emotions." I tell them, attempting to stand before my knees give out again and I fall back onto the ground.
"Why are you doing that?" Kai asks, annoyed but weak.
"Hmm... Let's see... 'Cause I had to used my own energy to fuel the spell." I hiss, holding back an insult.
"Then why was your necklace glowing?" Zane asks, attentive as always. I sigh. No use trying to hide it now.
"Because I can't control spiritual energy on my own. The Elder Spirit gave this necklace to me as a part of my training. As long as I have it, I can use spiritual energy without consequences. Every time I use spiritual energy, though, a portion of it disappears. The size depends on the strength of the spell. Very few can use spiritual energy without help, and by that I mean without help they are killed under the strain of using the energy." I try to stand up again but my legs aren't going to let me so I lean against the wall for support.
"Is that seriously what you go through every day?" Nya asks, understanding dawning in her face.
I nod. "Used to be okay. I mean, it was never easy with Lord Garmadon as my father. But after my mother died... Well, it's what I feel. Ten years in the making." I try to slow my breathing, but since my muscles are screaming for air, it isn't exactly all that simple.
"How do you not-" Jay begins but I finish the sentence.
"Explode? Go insane? Kill myself? Well, for one thing, it's escalated over the years, so it's a bit easier that way, but still hard. Although, it's what fuels me. And what allows me to kill my own father." And later my brother.
"I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't realize-" Kai starts but I shake my head.
"We were both at fault- GAH!" I scream, and clutch my arm. I lose my grip on the wall and fall over, only for Cole to catch me.
"What happened to your arm?" He asks, looking concerned.
"Unfortunately, the same energy I used was taken from my muscles, so they are now screaming in pain." I massage my arm as Cole helps me stay steady.
"All this time... Is this why our father never told me about you?" Lloyd asked. I sigh again.
"No, he was still ashamed of me. But part of it was that he thought I was dead from the sudden turn of events. He thought that he had lost both his wife and daughter, which is probably why he sent you to boarding school before he was sent to the underworld. He may have thought that he couldn't raise a child himself." But he was willing to let others pay the price for his heir.
"Jessica, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. It seems that you carry a great burden." Uncle Wu told me. "Get some rest."
I gave a slight smile before another shot of pain ran through my arm again. I grip it tightly, trying to massage it as Cole kept me from falling over. "Okay, I'll take up that offer." I managed to get into my room and flop into bed before my legs gave out. Celeta settled on the bedpost.
That was interesting. I expected them to kill me, not sympathize. Guess it turned out alright.
Agreed. And I am now convinced that Cole likes you.
When are you going to give this up?
He was the only one to apologize, he was holding you very gently earlier, and he seemed more concerned about you than your brother and uncle.
Okay, let's agree that he likes me more than the other ninja. But seeing as they still are at odds about me, that doesn't say much. I roll over, hoping to catch some sleep.
A Few Hours Later...
My sleep is tormented by visions of my mother and my father, more of the latter. When someone is shaking me awake, I'm glad, even though it wasn't long enough to clear up all of the pain in my arm. I open my eyes to find Cole looking at me.
"You were muttering and turning over. Celeta brought me here. Is everything alright?" He asks.
"I'm okay. Anything going on?" I ask.
"Actually, Jay's parents are coming. Nya mentioned you and they want to meet you." Cole said.
"Can't be my shining personality. Did she tell them about the sparing match?"
"Got it in one." We walked down the hallway to the command room, and outside the window I saw a odd looking car pulling up.
"Is that your parents Jay?" I motion to the people outside. Jay nods and within seconds a loud noise fills my ears, forcing me to cover them. "What the shit is that damn sound?!" I yell over it.
"His parent's car!" Lloyd yelled back, pointing to Jay. Finally, after the car stopped by the ship and I uncovered my ears. As the two walked in, I was surprised the first thing Jay's parents did was walk up to me instead of their son.
"Hey there. Is it really true that you're Lord Garmadon's daughter?" Jay's father asked.
"Um, yes." I stammer.
"Really? What was he like as a father?" He asked, giving me a weird look.
"She doesn't like to talk about it." Cole said quickly, putting his arm around my waist. I push back a blush as Jay's mother criticizes her husband for asking me about my father.
"So... who's who?" I ask quietly as they walk over to Jay.
"Jay's father is Ed and his mother's Edna." Cole explained. By this time I had disentangled myself from his arm, but he was still right next to me.
"Why are they so, er...?" I struggled to think of the right word.
"Awkward? It's just them. Although, it's clear that they're Jay's parents, since both Jay and his parents never stop talking. They run a junkyard where Jay was born."
I snort. "Jay was born in a junkyard?"
"Yeah, but don't tell him I said that. He's sensitive about it." I held back a laugh. But looking at them, the way they're so happy, old pains in my chest reappear. I kept my eyes down in an attempt to not see them. Cole notices, and asks, "Something wrong?"
"That used to be my family." I whisper. "Of course, my parents were younger and it wasn't a son, but it was close. A loving mom, a protective father, and a happy daughter." I blink back tears that came to my eyes.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Cole asked.
"Maybe later." I quickly whisper, since Jay's parents have finished talking with Jay and Nya and are heading over.
"Sorry for my husband's initial rudeness. We heard you almost beat Lloyd in sparing. Could you show us?" Edna asked.
I gave a smile. Or, what I hope was a smile. "Sure, but how about against Jay?" I know that I managed to smile at Jay's look of horror. But, unfortunately for him, his mother didn't notice and she nodded, smiling. I thought to myself, This is going to be fun. Very short and limited fun, but still fun.
We went outside to the deck. I cracked my knuckles, getting into a ready stance. Jay paled, pulled on his ninja mask, and the fight began. It took ten seconds to slip behind him and twist his arm behind his back. He squealed and I knife-handed his shoulder, causing him to fall over.
"Done. Who's next?" I ask. Kai and Cole quickly stepped away, Zane shook his head as fast as possible, and Lloyd looked scared.
"Is Jay going to be alright?" Nya asked, worried.
"He should be fine... in a couple hours. Four hours tops." I told her.
"That was amazing. I'm surprised you're not the Green Ninja!" Ed cried out.
You and me both. I think to myself.
After an hour or two, they finally left. Once they were out of sight, I groaned and collapsed onto the table behind me.
"HOW can anyone talk that much without stopping?" I asked.
"You think that's bad? Try living with Jay for a year or so and not going completely insane." Kai told me.
"I'm not that bad. I mean, with my parents, they just start talking and you start talking and they keep talking and soon hours have gone by-" Jay started but I cut him off.
"I get it! You and your parents talk too much! Would you shut up?" I ask, annoyed.
"See what we mean?" Cole asked. I laugh and Jay scowls.
"I wonder what Garmadon's doing. He's been off the grid since Jessica confronted him." Zane thought aloud.
"If I know my father, he's lying low until he thinks it's safe to take over Ninjago." I told him. Or until he thinks it's safe to die and leave Lloyd his dark world. Celeta clicked in response.
"Jessica, I have been meaning to ask. Could you show us Dusk Forest?" Uncle Wu asked.
"First off, why?" I ask, surprised.
"Because spiritual magic seems to be powerful. It would be beneficial to Lloyd if he learned it before he fought my brother." He answered.
"I could try to lead you guys there, but there's no guarantee that you would be able to get in. The forest chooses who enters, and that's not always a good thing." I remark, but Kai snorts.
"Come on! There's no way a forest can do that." He said. I roll my eyes.
"Oh yeah? I'll take you there. Whoever gets in gets in. Got it?" I ask. Everyone nods, so I take the controls. Setting the GPS for Dusk Forest, I turn to the others. "Get some sleep. It should take a good twenty-four hours to get there, so we should just go about our daily routines. Oh, and I'll pay the people who find the center clearing before me ten bucks a piece."
The guys all grinned. "You're on." Jay said.
Doctor Who!... Oh wait, just a Page Break. But in punishment... *Takes out flamethrower* DIE PAGE BREAK DIE! MWAHAHAHAHA!
Finally, the next day, we reached my home. Dusk Forest. It had been less than a week since I had left, but it already felt as though it was an entire lifetime.
"That's Dusk Forest? Where's the forest?" Jay asked.
"You had better give up now then. If you can't see anything, that means the mist is hiding it, which also means you're not welcome." I say.
Sliding down the anchor, I breathed in the pure air. It was full of spiritual energy from all of the spirits. I couldn't wait to see Rose again.
"Is everyone here?" I ask. When I hear six 'yes's, I smile. "Alright, here is the what is going to happen. We will enter at different points. Whoever gets to the center before me is paid ten bucks. Ready?" Everyone nods. "GO!" I yell, and everyone takes off.
You do realize you're going to have to save them from the illusions later, right? Celeta reminded me.
Duh. That's half the fun. I say, and she gives her bat laugh. Time to go in. Let's take the shorter route.
Okay! So the next few chapters will be everyone from different P.O.V.s. First is Kai, then Jay, Zane, Cole, Lloyd, Nya, and Sensei Wu last. Each chapter will have two P.O.V.s, the last ones compacted into a threesome. They will hopefully be uploaded at around the same time, but I have to leave for about a week. Hopefully, next week I'll begin uploading again. Sorry!