Hello everyone. I actually updated on time this week. Yay. XD

Chapter Twenty-Two: Manipulated

You are the worst kind of person.

Laurie tried to shrug the thought off, but there was something very persistent and infuriating about the voice in the back of her head that refused to disappear. She trudged on ahead, still following her newly aligned teammates. It had been about a day or so now since the fight with Lucas had happened. Her eyes drifted upwards from the ground, settling on the form of her cousin. His hands were bound behind his back with thick rope, and Cole had not released his right arm since they had started back to Ninjago City. Lucas looked more defeated than Laurie had ever remembered. But, then again, it was Lucas. He was probably thinking up a way to escape.

But you wouldn't get far even if you did manage that, now would you? Laurie smirked, drawing her cloak tighter around her body as a gust of wind sped past. A sudden aching in her heart overwhelmed her, and Laurie's steps faltered slightly. She remembered a time when the wind would aid her, communicate with her, but she had not heard its voice since she had initially come in contact with the Dark Matter. It had all been an accident, but now she welcomed her fate. What was losing an affinity towards nature compared to actually being able to win a war?

"Are we there yet?" Lucas sighed.

Cole's grip around the grey ninja's arm tightened. "I don't want to hear another peep out of you until we actually get to Ninjago City." He wanted to shove Lucas to the ground, beat him unconscious or something, but Cole knew that he would never hear the end of it from the Overlord. Or Zane for that matter.

"Aren't you getting tired of babysitting me?" Lucas tried again, a small smile playing at the edge of his lips. "I mean, prisoners aren't always cooperative and I'm just sure that I've been getting on your nerves, right?" Glancing over, Lucas could see Cole's thick brows furrow. Perfect. "I am right, aren't I? See, I thought so. I mean prisoners sometimes just talk and talk and talk. They're very uncooperative. You don't want to have to deal with that until we get to Ninjago City. You've already been dealing with me for a day now."

Laurie rolled her eyes. She could see what was happening. Cole was a pretty patient person, but even he had his limits. "Cole, just give him to me," she said, her voice cold. "I'll take care of him."

"No offense, but I'd feel better if one of the others took him," the raven-haired man replied. "You're not as strong as us. What if he slips away from you?"

"Then you can say 'I told you so'," Laurie finished, raising her brows as she patiently waited for Cole to make a decision.

Letting out a frustrated cry, Cole slowed his gait, now making pace with the red head. "Fine, take him. He can be your problem for a little while." With that, he shoved Lucas into Laurie's grip and walked faster, trying to catch up to the others that were leading the caravan.

Lucas smirked and flexed his hands. Maybe, if he could just be subtle about it, he could knock Laurie off of her feet with a pressurized jet of water and then —

There was pressure against his throat, bringing Lucas back to the situation at hand. Laurie held the flat section of her dagger's blade against her cousin's Adam's apple. "Try anything and I won't hesitate to slit your throat, Lucas," she threatened, feeling hollow inside. "Now isn't the time for funny business."

"Laurie, just try to think rationally for a second," the grey ninja started, choosing his words carefully before he spoke. "The world is falling into darkness, but we can save it. If you just let me try to heal you, even a little bit, I know it'll help." Lucas stayed silent for a few minutes, hoping that his cousin was mulling over his offer. "If Lloyd was here, he would be so disappointed in what you've let yourself become."

His words stabbed her in the heart, stirring up painful emotions that she had not felt for the past couple of hours. Sadness. Regret. Fear. They coursed through her veins like a disease, weakening her. There's no place for any of that, her thoughts hissed. This stuff makes you useless, clouds your judgment. He's just trying to get to you. Don't let him.

No, Lucas is right. There was the voice again. The annoying, angelic voice that tried to pierce the darkness. Laurie now settled upon calling it Hope. It seemed to fit. If Lloyd was here, and he saw you like this, he wouldn't give up on you, Hope argued. So why are you giving up on yourself?

"Lloyd's dead, so it doesn't really matter, does it?" Laurie turned the dagger around in her hand, the edge now resting upon Lucas' skin. "Nothing you can say will change my mind, Lucas."

Is it because you're a coward? Is that why you're giving up? Hope was relentless.

"Laurie, please, I'm trying to help you." Lucas fixed his gaze straight ahead, trying to ignore the weapon at his throat. "It hurts, doing something that you don't want to do, having someone manipulate you. I've been there before, you know I have. Don't let yourself become something you're not."

Is it because you're weak? You say Lloyd was weak, but who was supposed to make sure he wasn't? They say we always hate the parts of other people that are reflections of ourselves. Laurie gritted her teeth against Hope's words.

"I know what it's like to be manipulated too," the red head growled. "You think my father had it out for just you? You think he decided you would be the only useful tool for him? No. He was a master manipulator. He didn't pick and choose people because they were unique. He would use anybody that would benefit him. You're not special, Lucas." The words just rolled off her tongue effortlessly and she had to bite down on the inside of her lip to keep the dagger in her hand steady.

He stayed silent for a moment. "Laurie, you're missing the point—"

"Have you ever been under the control of a Hypnobrai?" The red head was feeling infuriated now. There were trails of warmth cascading down her face. Was she crying? "No one can tell you what it's like to 'do something you don't want to do' or have 'someone manipulate you' until you've fallen under the spell of the Hypnobrai." Nothing but the rhythmic sounds of feet pounding against the ground answered her. "Well then, have you?"

"No," the grey ninja replied, his voice quiet. "I haven't."

Laurie scoffed and sniffed lightly. "There's nothing you can do when it happens. By the time you realize you're in trouble, it's too late. They have you, and then everything around you just becomes dark. You're trapped inside your own mind, blind and at the mercy of the world. You don't know what they're making you do, who they're making you hurt, until something brings you out of the darkness." She shuddered, the memories still too fresh in her mind. "And then you're left to deal with the consequences of your own actions." She glanced upwards, staring at the back of her cousin's head. "So don't tell me that I'm being manipulated. That I'm doing something I don't want to do, Lucas. If I'm aware of what I'm doing, then I think that's good enough for me to know that I'm still in control of myself."

It's because you're afraid then, right? Hope swooped down like a hawk, attacking Laurie every chance it could. You're afraid of losing. You're afraid of what others will think about you. So you are a coward. And a weakling. Pathetic.

"I'm sorry, Laurie," Lucas said. The sentence was brief, but it held so much genuine remorse, that Laurie had to close her eyes to prevent anymore tears from forming. "I guess I just don't know how to help you then."

She flipped the dagger so that the flat part of the blade once more sat upon Lucas' throat. He was not a threat right now. They were both just a little broken. "Yeah," the red head sighed. "Me too…"

So, there's that. And I kinda want to apologize because this story has been going on for a year now and I feel like I should have finished it a long time ago. But I'll be back on March 7th with another chapter. Thanks for reading and see you then.