==Y'all have no idea how long I've been wanting to write this chapter. I've had a bit of trouble getting past brick walls and changing plans these past few days, but now I'm satisfied :) I hope this chapter makes all of you happy!==

Major Lazer - "Be Together" feat. Wild Belle

Maybe if the stars align, maybe if our worlds collide. Maybe on the dark side, we can be together...

Haunted: Collapse into Caliginosity

Chapter 31:

Aligned Stars

Kai and I were silent in the dark bridge as we watched and listened to her beautiful voice. As it blended with the others, chills went down my spine. I watched her on the screen with a longing sensation. The sight of her face made my memories seem like real life again. It was almost as if the still air around me betrayed me; I could, for a split second, feel her fingertips glide across my exposed skin or touch my clothes. Knowing it was all my imagination filled me with deep sadness, causing me to just hear her and not comprehend any meaning to the words.

I barely noticed the singing had stopped. Her smile showed happiness within the silence. Then there were cheers and the exchanging of high-fives.

Kai almost went to turn it off, but I grabbed his wrist and made him sit back down without a single word. I wasn't going to stop watching until she was gone. This may be the only time I get to experience her actual presence for a long time.

"So, are you going to find someone else now?" Ciara asked Macca, removing the headphones from her head.

"Well, I don't know, actually," she responded. "I mean, I just showed Tom who's boss for all of Ninjago. I think I want to keep that way for a while."

Those words left me with mixed emotions. She didn't feel the same way I did about our one night together?

"For a while, it'll just be me, my career, and my friends. I don't need a boyfriend to be happy. I need irreplaceable things to make me happy. That's going to be my main focus. Then we'll see what happens."

"Oh Macca, I know a real man will step up and claim you someday," Nicki told her after embracing her. "Go and take a break. You got your whole life ahead of you."

She nodded as Kelly and Ciara got up and left the room. Nicki followed them.

Macca faced the camera. "A couple announcements before I end this: I will be holding an autograph session tomorrow morning at ten at the Orb of Glass Dance Club for anyone who wants to come by, and I am on a new quest that I need your help with. I'll have a new video posted on my website in exactly two minutes that has all the details in it, so if you guys could watch it and help me out in any way, shape, or form, I will greatly appreciate it." She got close to the camera and winked with a smile. "See you next time." Then the whole screen went dark, blanketing Kai and me with the gloom of night.

"You're gonna watch that video, aren't you?" Kai asked.

"Of course I am."

"Well I'm not. I'm tired. Goodnight, frosty." His footsteps wandered away from me. The door opened and shut. I was now alone.

The emotions struggling to keep afloat inside my body became more apparent. Macca did not desire me like I thought she would. I was confused as I tried to let the information sink in.

"Bridge, go to Macca Soxx's videos," I commanded.

My eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness of the screen with a line of videos, the first one being the one I watched earlier today. The video she promised popped up and began playing. It showed Macca sitting at a table in the middle of the day.

"Hello, world," She said. "This is Macca. I'm making this video so that I can find someone–"

She stopped for a moment. I saw her face fighting against something internally crippling. I heard her mumble something to herself as she looked away and wiped her eyes.

"So basically, I met a guy a few weeks ago in Jamanakai Village. He was really…mysterious. He was really tall, had the prettiest blue eyes I've ever seen, and the craziest hair of anyone in this entire world. His name is Zane, and he's my friend."

All the confusion I was feeling lifted at that very second. I wasn't forgotten at all. She remembered me clear as day.

"Zane took me on an adventure that night, and that was how we grew close. He took me back to a warm bed after I fell asleep on him and he stayed with me until the next morning. That was when we said our goodbyes.

"Now, I don't know how much he's been thinking of me, but I've been thinking a lot about him. In fact, I thought about him so much that I wanted to find him, so I got directions to their monastery and went to see him. But after climbing that mountain all by myself, there was no monastery. There was nothing at all, but I found…" She reached under the table and pulled out something that was black and loosely dangled from her hand. As soon as it rested on the table, her hands held her face to hide the fact she had broken down into tears. It made my heart lurch to watch.

But what was that? I inspected the object as best I could from the view I had of it.

"I gave these to Zane before he left and I found them after their monastery burnt down…" she whimpered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The dog tags! She searched for me?

"I thought he was dead, but now I just want to know the truth. I don't think he's dead but I don't know if he's okay or not. Please, I just want to know that he's okay. Please help me find Zane. Please." Then her image vanished before my very eyes.

"No! Macca…" Her crying burned in my mind. She thought something bad has happened to me.

"Bridge, where is the Orb of Glass Dance Club?" I quickly asked.

The screen brought up an address with a map and many pictures of a building that had a massive glass ball on its roof. I couldn't follow the address, but finding it from the air had to be a simple task.

I suddenly knew what I was going to do tomorrow, and that was all I could think about.

Not a wink of sleep came to me. I laid in bed all night with a pain in my abdomen from my continuous train of thought. All I wanted was for Macca to know the truth. Nobody was in the fire that burned the monastery down. We were all safe.

I was the first person up at dawn. The best way for me to leave would be to finish my part in cleaning for the day.

The moment I was finished, Jay gathered my brothers and me in the bridge.

"Ready to see some magic, fellas?" he asked, stepping away from the screen.

"Did you add something new for Nya?" Kai asked him.

"I guess you could say that. Watch this. Bridge, present me a physical layout of Ninjago."

Just then, the overhead projector powered on and brought a three dimensional map of Ninjago on a white grid. The three of us awed at the unexpected feature Jay had added.

"This is a good way to directly pinpoint where Serpentine hotspots are located," Cole claimed.

"Exactly what I was thinking," Jay agreed, "but it also can show holograms of anything we want, including things previously searched for. No valuable information is ever lost. Speaking of which, I think each member of the team should be recognized just in case an intruder ever tried to steal secrets. Since I did it just a few minutes ago, any volunteers?"

Kai and Cole looked at each other before Cole stepped forward. Jay told him where to stand and to try not to move. The white light from the projector shined on his body, scanning him, and then gave a physical description after evaluation. The same happened to Kai when he stepped forward. I followed him, standing in the exact same place. The white light traveled down my body as it evaluated me.

The light from the projector suddenly turned green, startling me. I stepped away to find the grid keeping my three dimensional figure to have a checkmark next to it and "Match Found" under it.

My brothers had the same confused look I had, but then the grid diminished and showed a different person hovering. To our amazement, it began to talk, and I instantly realized who she was. "So basically, I met a guy a few weeks ago in Jamanakai Village. He was really…mysterious. He was really tall, had the prettiest blue eyes I've ever seen, and the craziest hair of anyone in this entire world. His name is Zane, and he's my friend."

The image of Macca paused as they gazed at me in bewilderment.

"What the–" Cole started, cutting himself off.

Jay gasped. "You actually did meet her?!" he shouted.

I gave a look of surprise that changed to slight embarrassment. It suddenly seemed like the perfect time to leave, so I dropped my gaze and left the bridge.

It didn't take long before they followed me out. "Zane, wait!" Cole pleaded. "Where are you going?"

"To be with her," I solemnly answered, stepping onto the burning sand of the desert.

"What do you mean?" Kai asked. "She could be anywhere in Ninjago City."

"She gave an exact location and time. I know where I'm going."

"So you're just leaving? What will Sensei say?"

I didn't reply at first. "My only concern right now is having her know I'm alive and well."

"Why would she think differently?"

My tone came harsher than I intended when I stopped walking. "Because she went looking for the monastery and found what remained of it. She found the dog tags and thought I perished. She was devastated! I have to find her to show her I'm fine. Don't try to stop me, because I shall not listen. This could be my only opportunity to find her. I refuse to pass it up." Their footsteps didn't trail me once I continued to walk to the eroded arches.

The four dragons slept lazily in their designated spots. My light blue dragon, Shard, slept under the very last one. I approached him and stroked his snout. His massive golden eyes opened.

"Greetings," I said to him, picking up his reins.

His immediate reaction was to stand up on all four of his scaly feet, but it was slower than usual. I sensed fatigue within him. My worst fear was that he was growing ill.

I quickly mounted on the saddle. "Please, I need you now more than ever, Shard. We have important business to attend to." With a simple flick of the reins, Shard stepped forward and found his way into the sky. Beneath us, I could see my brothers looking up at me.

Ninjago City was located in the middle of the Sea of Sand. This would be the first time I've ever traveled there. A city of this magnitude seemed intimidating to me, especially since I came alone.

Shard and I aimlessly flew the sky. In all honesty, I had no idea where Ninjago City was without a map. My only way of finding it would be to just notice it. If it was the largest city in all of Ninjago, then surely it would be easy to come across.

And I was correct.

A dark cluster of skyscrapers soon came to my view. The size of it all worried me. Civilians will definitely see Shard flying above, and for me to find the dance club would seem pointless to anyone else.

I sought out peace to calm me. It could take time, but with my desire to be reunited with Macca fueled my drive to find a needle in a haystack.

The picture of the unique building stayed close in mind. Identifying it from above should be simpler than it appeared. I flew Shard over the buildings and streets, his immense shadow falling over many people who stopped moving to see what was going on. The two of us went everywhere to find it. One building after the next slowly worried me even more.

What if I can't find it at all? I wondered helplessly, my heartbeats quickening.

A blinding light glared into my eyes and forced me to look away. I battled the pain it caused me and glanced back to see the glass ball reflecting sunlight right at me. In the street in front of the building, people were gathered like scavengers that had just found a decaying animal.

This was the place.

I had Shard land right in the middle of the street. The people scattered in fright and car horns loudly honked. I hopped off Shard and looked around for Macca. It was impossible for me to sense a particular person, but I found myself trying my best to get an idea of where she was.

"ZANE!"

I gazed where the voice came from. Someone pushed past everyone in a full sprint. Her hat flew off as her wild curls bounced in the rushing wind she was making.

I ran toward her with my heart accelerating. Nothing else mattered around us.

She jumped so high that I had to catch her in an embrace that had only been real in dreams for a long time. Her touch made my emotions falter. I held on to her tight, and she did the same to me. I lowered us to the ground and sat on my knees. The tears falling from my eyes were the only things reassuring me that all of this was real.

Shoutout to KRR, Kai4Ever, and The Mayor of Ninjago City for reviewing the last chapter! I have no idea when the next chapter will be posted, but keep a lookout for it :)

Kai4Ever - I'm sorry you weren't fond of my attempt at creativity, but I only did it for that one chapter. It's the only time I plan to do anything like that, so I know the future will be better :)