Happy Friday! Once again I pulled this together out of absolutely nothing. I'm noticing as I continue to write that what I envision a chapter as is always completely different from how it turns out. I still haven't figured out if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Chapter Twenty-One: Wavering Heart
"We have to get out of here as soon as possible," Laurie breathed, resisting the urge to push Lloyd behind her. As much as she wanted to protect her brother, she knew that he could hold his own in a fight. She was not always going to be there for him and she just had to get used to that. Rhea ran forward, her dark brown eyes blazing with hatred. She jumped off of the ground, poising her left foot to kick the red head in the face. Laurie crossed her arms in front of her and felt the weight of the small girl's body push off of her forearm. Rhea landed in a crouch.
Lloyd backed up, his head whipping around in every direction. "Okay, but I don't know where the exit is," he stated, watching as Rhea got to her feet. She threw her remaining karambit and the green ninja threw himself at his sister, the two crashing to the ground. With a slight whistle, the weapon sailed through the air, passing over their heads. Laurie blinked and stood up quickly, pulling Lloyd to his feet. That had been a close one.
"So, you have no idea where the exit is?" the orange ninja asked, grabbing Lloyd's hand before she started running. The boy stumbled behind her, losing his footing several times as his sister dragged him along. He glanced back, his emerald eyes focusing on Rhea. She was trying to catch up with them. Swallowing hard, he held his free hand out, feeling a stream of water erupt from it. Rhea adjusted her course around the attack and Lloyd sighed. "I heard that!" Laurie shouted, turning her head to see the water strewn all over the ground. "That's what I was talking about earlier, Lloyd! You're using water?"
They were still running. It was hard to concentrate on attempting to escape and fight someone off at the same time. "Yes, I'm using water," he argued, now taking the lead as he saw Laurie heading towards a wall that was suddenly illuminated by a nearby light. "I can master all of the elements, Laurie. Did you forget?" The Overlord suddenly appeared in front of Lloyd and he stopped, his sister nearly knocking him over.
Laurie narrowed her eyes and barreled right through the shadow. Every nerve on her body tingled with immediate cold, but soon she was through him and watching as Lloyd followed her lead. Despite coming off as threatening and having a certain air of malevolence about him, the Overlord was not much of a threat. Lloyd thrust his palm in to the ground and a small wall made from the earth sprung up, catching both the Overlord and Rhea off guard. "I'm aware that you can master all of the elements," Laurie answered, rolling her eyes. "Where did water come from?"
Rhea could hear them talking with each other, just holding a conversation as if they were casually walking down a street. She gazed up at the Overlord, feeling defeated and embarrassed. This was not turning out how she had expected it to. She was the best at what she did and she could not even catch either of them. The burning sensation from her scar intensified and Rhea rubbed it furiously, attempting to alleviate the pain. "Don't just stand there," she heard her father growl. "Go and get them." She nodded and hopped over the small barrier that Lloyd had created. Unfortunately, the girl was at a disadvantage.
"I was taught how to use it," the green ninja replied in response to his sister's question. "That's how it works. The masters of the different elements teach me how to use them. Eventually, I'll know how to use them all." Rhea was coming again. The girl was absolutely relentless in her pursuit. Lloyd held out his hand and watched as tiny, blue sparks danced around his fingers. Concentrating, he tried to control the electricity and send it towards Rhea. Laurie stood beside him watching anxiously. Sweat began beading on Lloyd's forehead, but he could not harness the element enough to fully control it. Letting a large, ragged breath escape his lips, he took a few steps backwards. "Okay, so maybe I'll need Jay to teach me about this a little more."
Swallowing hard, Laurie stood her ground, remembering that she still had Rhea's other weapon in her possession. Awkwardly, the teenager gripped the handle in her right hand, watching as the blade curved upwards and away from her. How did you use a weapon that was just so oddly shaped? It resembled a pirate's hook and Laurie was hoping that she could use it effectively. Last time she had tried to fight with one, it had not turned out so well. Rhea rushed forward, planting her left foot on the ground and kicking her right leg out. Her foot snapped hard against Laurie's wrist and the orange ninja dropped Rhea's weapon to the ground. Feeling pain rattle her bones, Laurie tried to locate the weapon so she could pick it up, but the young girl was too fast. She struck yet again, her sneakered foot in the orange ninja's stomach. Laurie felt herself skid across the ground on her back, stopping after a few seconds.
"Laurie!" Lloyd shouted, turning to see if his sister was okay. She had disappeared in to a section of the room that was not lit. A hand was on the front of his sweatshirt and he met Rhea's gaze as she forced him backwards. The karambit that Laurie had dropped was now in her hand and she gripped the handle with a great intensity. Her knuckles were beginning to turn white. "You don't have to do this," the green ninja said. His voice was even and strong. Rhea felt both of her arms shake slightly.
This was Lloyd she was about to hurt. He had lied to his sister in order to protect the information on how he had truly been injured during the fight with the snake. He had saved her from Kozu, even though he had been the one who had caused the general to attack anyways. He had been the one that initially released her from her bonds in the apartment, the one who had offered her friendship. She could not bring herself to hurt him. Her grip on Lloyd loosened and he took the opportunity to grab her wrist and twist it to the right. She felt tears rise to the surface of her eyes as she relinquished her hold on the karambit and heard it drop to the floor with a clatter.
Her brother's voice filled the air. Laurie lay on the hard floor, waiting for her breath to come back to her. It was ragged in her chest, but the discomfort was beginning to subside. Without anything to focus on, Laurie's eyes drifted upwards towards the ceiling. Instead of the encroaching blackness that she anticipated to see, the girl saw two florescent green eyes staring back at her. She had forgotten about the stone man! Laurie's mind had been too focused on Rhea and the Overlord. He jabbed one of his two swords downwards, pinning part of the skirt of Laurie's dress to the ground. She just lay there, staring wide eyed at the adversary above her, pulling against the single object that prevented her from leaving.
"Got you now," General Kozu laughed, holding his remaining butterfly sword in his upper right hand. This was it; he was going to do what the pipsqueak had failed to do. He was not surprised by this outcome though. Rhea had never impressed him and he knew deep down that she did not have the heart to finish this job. She was in too deep now to separate herself from her cover, he could see it in her eyes. The hilt of the sword felt comfortable in his hand as he quickly jabbed it downwards.
The sword struck the ground with an unexpected force. Kozu glanced over to his right and saw the girl unsteadily getting to her feet, part of her dress ripped. So she had managed to roll out of the way in time. Procuring both swords from the floor with ease, the stone man leapt forward, giving chase to the one individual that his master wanted dead.
She wanted to stop, to just end this here and now, but her previous experience with the stone people flooded her mind. Laurie recalled that nothing she or her friends had done had fazed the one they fought back in Ninjago City. Her thoughts were too frazzled now to concentrate hard enough on her abilities. All she could do right now was run. The thundering of her footsteps through the large and empty room filled her ears, mixing with the pounding of blood. "Lloyd?" she called out, scanning the area ahead of her for her brother. "Lloyd, where are you?"
A hand grabbed one of Laurie's wrists and she initially pulled against it, feeling trapped. "Calm down," a familiar voice chastised. "It's just me."
Lloyd's voice was calming and the orange ninja let him take the lead. He was pulling her forcefully in a direction that she was not sure of. "Please tell me you know where you're going," she begged, hearing the man behind her continue his assault. Laurie needed to calm down or else she was not going to be able to be of any help in fighting. She took in a deep breath, trying not to concentrate on the environment around her, but on her element. Unfortunately, her mind latched on to something else. "You never explained to me how you learned how to use water," Laurie started, hearing Lloyd give an audible sigh.
"Seriously, Laurie?" the green ninja complained, noticing a shadow on the approaching wall that was darker than the surrounding area. "We can talk about this any other time." A smile spread itself across the boy's face. His suspicions had been correct. The strange shadow was indeed a door, but there was a large, metal padlock that glared back at him. With his free hand, Lloyd chopped at the door frame as if it were a piece of wood. The metal frame buckled and crumbled as the force of earth over powered it. Not wasting any time, Laurie finished the job by landing a hard kick to the center of the door.
Cool, night air swept past the siblings as the door fell forward on to the dirt. "Come on," Laurie urged, gently pushing Lloyd forward. "We have to lose these guys." Her eyes immediately fell upon Ninjago City and all of the bright neon that seemed to adorn every building. A single structure stood high above the others and a plan made itself apparent. "If we can make it to the Ninjago City Tower then maybe we can stir up a ruckus that will catch the others' attention. They'll come help us!" She sprinted forward, gesturing for Lloyd to follow her.
"Wait!" he yelled, glancing back behind him. Rhea stood in the broken door frame, her eyes wide and sad. Lloyd could not decide if she was formulating on how to attack them next or if she was just going to watch them disappear in to the night. He ripped his gaze away from his friend and hurried to catch up with his sister. "You mean to tell me that the ninja have no idea that any of this is happening?"
Laurie shrugged, happy to be outside where, despite the dark veil of night, there was more light than there was in the stuffy warehouse. "As far as I know they're still at the ball, but I'm sure they'll come help us."
How could this have happened? Her only job was to catch them, to stop them, and she had completely failed. A breeze whipped through the opening to the warehouse and Rhea watched as both Laurie and Lloyd gradually vanished in to the distance, growing closer to the over populated metropolis with every step. There was a rasping growl from behind and the young girl turned to see her father approach. She could tell he was disappointed and extremely agitated, the burning of her scar progressively growing stronger. It almost felt as if the skin around it was going to start melting. Clasping her hands behind her back, Rhea gave the shadow a small bow before waiting to hear what he had to say.
"Where is she?" the Overlord demanded, watching as the girl he had raised avoided looking at him. "I gave you a simple task, to catch the boy, and you could not even do that." Rhea felt her cheeks turn the brightest shade of red and she attempted to hide her face behind the long curtain of light blue hair that currently fell down around her. The Overlord could feel the small sliver of patience that lay within him virtually dissipating entirely. "Well," he began, pausing for only a moment, "where are they now?"
With a slightly shaking hand, Rhea tried to single out the large building that almost signified the center of the city. The Overlord made an impatient noise, almost as if he were clearing his throat, and Rhea felt a shiver run down her spine. I think they are heading to the tall tower in the middle of Ninjago City she signed awkwardly, hoping that she had overheard Laurie correctly. She watched with disdain as Kozu roughly pushed past her, his double swords gripped tightly in two of his hands. In his right, lower hand was one of her karambits. "This was left inside," he spat, tossing the small weapon to the girl. She snatched it out of the air, but sucked in a deep breath. Accidently catching a weapon by the blade was painful. A thin line now ran down her left palm, blood beginning to slowly spill from it.
Ignoring the appearance of his right hand man, the Overlord continued to focus on the young girl. "Well then, if that's where they are going, we will follow them." Rhea's dark brown eyes widened and, with both of her weapons now back in her possession, she tied her hair back with them. Feeling more comfortable now, she nodded and gave the shadow a long bow before taking up a steady gait as she headed in the same direction as the siblings.
"Master," General Kozu started, his voice tinged with contempt, "why do you continue to rely on the girl? She has failed you on this mission." He transferred the sword in one of his right hands to his lower left hand and got down on one knee. "Allow me to finish this properly. I can assure you that I will not disappoint you."
The Overlord laughed and gestured for the stone man to rise. He happily obliged, re-configuring his butterfly swords to his liking. "Kozu, it has to be her. Her heart wavers on the line between good and evil. With this final kill, not only will I be rid of the prophecised one, but I will be able to make a full return to this world." He held out his hand which shifted and wavered as the wind blew through him. "No longer will I be just a memory or a shadow in this world. I will properly return to Ninjago and complete what I started long ago."
Kozu stood stoic, listening to his master's explanation. It seemed to make sense, at least in the Overlord's mind, but the stone man felt bitter. He was more than capable of just getting rid of both girls. Neither of them deserved to live in his opinion. The boy in the sweatshirt either. He had been bested by that little brat and his elemental powers. Despite what his master was thinking, Kozu felt as if he could still be the one to complete the task at hand. "Well then," he answered, "let us go see if the girl does, indeed, take care of the prophecised one."
Alright, that's it for this week. Thank you for sticking with this story because I noticed the other day that this has been in the works for a while, considering that I published it back in February. So, I really wanted to thank everyone for being patient as this story unfolds for both you and me. See you next week. :)