So, good news! I'm almost done writing this story! More good news, I have my own laptop! Even more good news, I DON'T DO MY HOMEWORK AT HOME ANYMORE BECAUSE IT'S WAY TOO STRESSFUL! This story will be posted and being wrapped up soon. I started a new thing where I write on paper what I want to happen in the chapter and I go from there. Hopefully, it will work! Enjoy! I'll probably just be updating everything on Fridays now, but don't expect every Friday.
The vision was different this time. I was like a ghost, back at the orphanage. Zoey was standing next to me. Present visions are different then those of the past or the future, she told me. We live it as an out of body experience. I used to do this with Lucas when we felt homesick.
"Please, Becca?" Nancy was saying.
"I don't know," Becca murmured.
"Hey, Nancy has the potential," Alex said. "She's a gifted kid. I started my training when I was five. I know the limits of a kid her age. I won't let her push past it."
"You promise?" Becca asked.
Becca had changed in the couple months I was gone. Her brown hair was cut shorter and was curled. She was wearing contacts now in her pine green eyes, and because it was starting to be nicer outside, her skin was a little tanner. Though some things didn't change. She still wore light eye shadow, lip gloss, and attempted to cover up her freckles. She was sixteen, had given up the hope of being adopted, and was still as worried as ever for her younger roommates—not that I saw McKenzie, but still.
"I promise," Alex assured her. When she noticed Becca hesitate, she added, "Hey, a while back I promised Molly I would keep an eye on Echo and protect her. I haven't broken that promise, and I don't intend to either. I wouldn't put Nancy in any position I wouldn't put Echo in."
Becca nodded. "Okay. I guess she can train. Just, I want reports from Echo. After every training session."
"Yes!" Nancy cheered. She turned to Caleb. "Good luck with your parents."
Caleb nodded and Alex and him left.
I blinked a few times as we returned to reality. "What? No! I wanna see what–"
"Calm down," Zoey said. "I told you, that was real time. We have to wait for Alex to get to Caleb's house."
I didn't mean to, but I pouted a little, looking out at the upper deck. It was empty. It felt weird seeing it empty. Usually Alex and Zane were meditating. Or the guys were goofing off. Or the girls were sparing. Sometimes Garmadon, Wu, and Misako would be out there practicing—it didn't happen much but when it did I would hide and watch.
After a few long minutes, Zoey lightly grabbed my wrist.
We were then standing in a nice looking living room. A young boy sat on the sofa watching TV with subtitles. He had light brown hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. There were small devices in his ears and I took a guess that he was deaf.
A woman stood talking with Alex. She had brown hair like the boy's, tanish skin, and blue eyes. "What do you mean?" she was asking.
"I mean, your son is very special," Alex said. "I need your permission in order to train him."
She looked down at Caleb. "I know how you're special, but what does she mean?" she asked, signing it as she went, though halfway through she caught herself.
I saw the nervous look in Caleb's eyes. He put one hand on the other, pulling them apart. A blue toy truck appeared in his hand. He then handed it to Alex—who just looked over the toy for a while—and signed, I have special powers. Just like two of my friends. We're all going to train together.
His mom paused for a moment. She looked to Alex. "I know you're a ninja, but can I trust you?"
"What do you need me to do to prove it?" Alex asked. Then she shook her head. "No, I know. Letting your son do something like this may seem scary, but it's not going to be extreme like what we do. It's just simple training, learning to control his powers better, stuff like that. We would never send him into battle knowing he's not ready."
His mom nervously tapped her foot. "Can I think about it?" she asked.
"Of course," Alex replied. She took out a pen and paper, scribbling down numbers. "Call when you know." She handed her the slip and left.
When Zoey and I returned to reality, she pulled away immediately. "Echo, get down," she ordered.
I looked out the window. Skeletons were in the middle of boarding. I backed up. "What do we do?" I asked.
"They'll want to take us back to the Underworld," Zoey said. "We need to hide."
"Can't we fight them off? If we hide, they'll find us eventually," I said.
Zoey hesitated for a second too long. Two of the skeletons came into the bridge.
I got ready to defend myself, and Zoey if I had to. I imagined a mist appearing around my right hand and a wind around my left. After what I did in the Underworld, along with the crystal around my neck, I felt more confident with my powers.
"Wait," Zoey said softly but in confidence.
"Looks like we found you two," one of the skeletons said as he stepped forwards. "Zoey doesn't have the Mark, but we can always fix that. Echo, you only have part of it. How?"
"I got ride of some of it," I said. "It's simple really."
Two more skeletons came in.
"Now!" Zoey said, drawing a katana from nowhere.
I put both my arms out, the mist and wind shooting at the skeletons. They stumbled back and the mist blocked their vision.
"Stay close," Zoey instructed. "Create more mist."
I looked up and saw her eyes turning white. I focused and made more mist. I could barely see, but I stayed close like Zoey told me. She guided me to the door. I sensed that the mist had spilled onto the deck, and it was weird how I somehow knew where each skeleton was. I could tell where Zoey was too, even without looking at her.
I felt a boney hand grab my arm. I jumped and ended up hitting Zoey. Images flashed through my head, but this time I couldn't focus on them. I think I might've briefly blacked out because I found myself with a skeleton holding me up by my elbows.
I sucked in a deep breath and yelled, "Uncle Garma–"
One of the other skeletons covered my mouth. "Oh no you don't," he growled.
I looked to Zoey. It took both of the skeletons to hold her. She struggled as hard as she could, her katana on the floor by her foot.
I finally snapped from my daze and began struggling to free myself. The crystal around my neck glowed brightly, probably trying to contain my powers which were being triggered by my fear. Can you blame me for being scared? I managed to move so the one skeleton's had wasn't over my mouth.
"What do you want with us?" I asked, trying to contain myself.
"We can't just let prisoners escape," the skeleton to Zoey's right said.
"She deserves to know the truth," Zoey said softly, but loud enough to where I could hear. Then she stopped struggling and looked at me. "Echo, the skeletons are the only souls that can physically enter this realm. The more souls that are trapped in the Underworld, the more darkness can grow."
One of the skeletons tried to stop her, but she managed to keep talking.
"That's why they used Caleb's guilt to drag him to the Underworld. That's why Lucas and I could never escape. It has nothing to do with any reputation they think they have. It's all about power."
"So what?" one growled in Zoey's ear. "What was the point in telling her that?"
"It's just something she'll need later," Zoey stated. "I told her now to stall for time."
Garmadon, Misako, and Wu came into the bridge.
I felt the skeleton pull me back. "Lord Garmadon," he snickered. "Long time no see."
"Release them!" Garmadon ordered.
"We don't take orders from you anymore," the skeleton chuckled. "You're not king of the Underworld anymore."
I closed my eyes for a moment. I hated any mention of uncle Garmadon being evil. He made mistakes, and they were hardly his fault, so I never wanted to think of him that way. I jerked away from the skeleton, ripping its arms off. It was kind of creepy. Okay, correction. It was extremely creepy.
Uncle Garmadon did Spinjitzu on the two skeletons that had me.
I looked to Zoey and our eyes met for a moment.
She took a deep breath. "Ninja-go!" She twisted, spinning into an ice blue vortex. The skeletons were sucked in, and when they were knocked out, they were in pieces. Zoey stopped, looking really shocked. "I didn't think that would work," she admitted. "I was unaware I could even learn Spinjitzu."
"Are there any other skeletons coming?" Wu demanded from them.
"No," one of the heads said. "We were going to use these two as bait."
Misako whispered something I didn't hear and Wu nodded.
"Echo, how about you go down below and let Dr. Julien know everything is taken care of," he said.
"Okay," I said, walking out of the bridge. I hoped they knew I was too smart to be distracted. I didn't skip a grade just because I studied things on my own. I was also very observant. I didn't like being out of the loop. It made me feel…like I was just a normal seven-year-old.
Finally, right? Review, don't flame!
