AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Interesting fact: Prior to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which occurred in October of that year, only one inch of rain had fallen in the previous three months, resulting in severe drought conditions.

Shoutouts to the commenters on this fire tale's previous chapter: AveXCninja11, lovesgod12, TitaniumMasterOfAquaLightning, StoryMaker7, taylorjensen517, and Kai Lover911!

In the chapter below, the prisoners meet their "hostess"...

Chapter 10 - Captor and Captives

Fiora.

Kai had already seen the fire witch in person, and Sam had seen her in the dream she had, so their eyes did not widen in amazement as the others' eyes did as they all looked up and beheld the appearance of the apparition.

"Welcome to my lair," the villainess said from her elevated position in the main cave area. "I am Fiora, witch of fire and rightful ruler of Ninjago." Though Fiora had a voice in Sam's dream, hearing the apparition's raspy, deep-throated voice for real made the blonde girl freeze.

Cole got right to the point. "What do you want with us, Fiora?" he demanded as he clutched the jail bars.

"Impatient, aren't we? I thought the red ninja was supposed to be the impatient one," the fire witch chuckled. "Well, I'm sure you all have noticed, over the past few weeks, that the weather in Ninjago has been extremely hot and dry."

"We've certainly noticed the forest fires," Jay sniped.

"And water rationing may begin soon," Lloyd added.

"Do we have you to thank for all this?" Zane asked.

"Why, yes," the witch replied. Though she had no mouth, they could tell she would be smiling if one were visible. "I have been busy evaporating clouds so that no rain touches the ground. And when the water supply runs low enough, the people of Ninjago will surrender to me. Then I will rule the land and obtain revenge for being banished to the center of the earth."

"What makes you think you can get away with this?" Kai asked from his recumbent position on the stone floor.

"Because I will have help in the task of persuading the people to be subject to my rule. That help will be you."

The prisoners looked at each other.

"You seem confused, my friends. Yes, you will help me. But first you will need a little persuading yourselves."

Lloyd narrowed his eyes at her. "You mean brainwashing, don't you?"

"Persuading, brainwashing, whatever terminology you wish to use, it's all the same," Fiora said, unfazed by his accusation. "You should know that once you have undergone my persuasion process to join my legion of minions, you'll still keep your powers, so you needn't worry about that. You'll just be using them whenever, and on whomever, I command you to do so."

"Um, what exactly do you mean by a persuasion PROCESS?" Jay asked. "And how long does it take? Does it hurt...much? Will I still like to eat Bunny's Marshmallows afterward? Could I -"

"Silence, blue ninja!" Fiora roared. "Your relevant questions will be answered in due time! Do not insult me with trivial matters!"

Jay rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut.

Satisfied that her command would be heeded, Fiora continued. "The process involves wearing a metal ring called a cerebrum circlet around your heads while I cast a spell on you. The cerebrum circlets for you ninja are already being worked on as we speak, for while each of you was sliding down here to my lair, I could determine the size of your head and have my minions create a circlet to conform to the shape of your cranium."

"To answer another of the blue ninja's questions, the persuasion process itself takes only about five minutes and will occur right here in this area," she explained. "My original plan was to cast the spell in an hour from now. But now it will be done tomorrow morning, for my minions will need extra time to mine more of the special metal needed to create an additional cerebrum circlet, due to the appearance of a last-minute guest."

Fiora's face floated down to their level to look through the jail bars at the last-minute guest, Sam, who was sitting on the stone floor next to Kai. Having the witch's large orange eyes in close proximity was intimidating, but Sam raised her chin in defiance.

"Tell me, child, what is your name?" the witch rasped.

The college student was annoyed at the condescending form of address which the apparition had just used to refer to her. "I'm not a child," she protested. "My name is Samantha."

Kai inwardly chuckled at the sass that his girl had just shown to their captor, at the same time cringing at the possible retaliation by the witch.

Fiora was not fazed, however, as she asked another question. "And I also would like to know, Samantha, at what point in the future do you anticipate giving birth to the baby?"

Sam had not expected to be asked that question, so she had to think fast to come up with a fake due date. Kai had not expected that question either, of course, so he held his breath as he waited for her answer.

She swallowed. "Um...I'm in my, uh, third month and I'm due on, uh, New Year's Day. Yeah, New Year's Day."

"That would explain why your baby is not showing yet," Fiora commented. "I know that human pregnancies are typically not visible until the fourth or fifth month of the gestation."

Kai exhaled. Fiora accepted what Sam had told her. But a thought crossed his mind.

"Why does Sam need to undergo the persuasion process?" he spoke up, his glances alternating between Sam and Fiora. "She has no powers for you to control."

"Yes, I know SHE has no powers," Fiora replied in an exasperated tone. "But she carries an elemental being within her womb, master of fire, and by applying the persuasion process to her, the baby's mind - as well as her mind - will be under my control."

That sounds awful, to want to control an innocent baby's mind, let alone anyone else's mind, he thought.

"After the baby's birth, I will no longer be able to control Samantha's mind, but that is no matter, for she will be my prisoner and care for the child until the child reaches its fourth birthday."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "What happens after that?"

"I will take over the raising of the child. So Samantha will no longer be of use to me...and I will kill her."

The color drained from Sam's face.

"And to answer yet another of the blue ninja's earlier questions...yes, the process will hurt."

Fiora raised herself back to tower above them once more. "Does anyone else have any questions?"

No one said anything - not even Jay.

"Good. My minions will be tending to your human needs periodically. I will see you in the morning."