Chapter 16

Time seemed to crawl and fly simultaneously. Alaric and Gianna had both left the apartment shortly after the incident with the ninjas' mechanic. Alaric was headed across town to speak with some of the loyalists who had travelled in from the Island to pick up the last shipments of supplies before the entirety of Scallta moved back to the island. His car made an impressive roar as it flew into an abandoned parking lot by the docks, and the men and women gathered in one corner raised their heads to look. The car was sleek, black, and powerful. It wouldn't be coming to the Island with him, so he figured he might as well play with his toy before selling it right before skipping town. Although…it did have its perks, among one a technology scrambler that would cut all electronical correspondences and appliances within a block radius when it was active. It was flipped on, and Alaric felt completely confident that the meeting he was about to conduct would never be traced.

He rose smoothly out of the car and straightened. He was on the third costume change of the day, this one was dark jeans and shoes, along with a black short-sleeve top that clearly displayed his tattoos and muscular build. He had braided back the top of his hair before leaving, and now nonchalantly threw a jacket over one shoulder as he walked towards the group.

A dusty yet important-looking woman separated herself from the crowd and gave a slight bow and nod to him as he approached. "Heir Alaric."

"Morgana. Glad you decided to show up for this meeting." He fixed her with a stare, and she cringed.

"Yes, Highness. I apologize again for the last mistake it will not happen again." He nodded but refused to acknowledge what seemed to be genuine apology in her voice. He was the Heir here, and these people needed to know that-and fear it. He had wanted to remove Morgana from her position of leadership on the Island in his family's absence, but Gianna had talked him out of it. They had to have some advisors, and it would be good to have someone who knew what was fully going on when they returned to their Island.

"Have you loaded the shipment? I hope you remembered to leave the select items out so I can see them. Some of these things are too important for them to arrive to the Island and be unusable or not what I had commanded."

She nodded furiously, throwing dust, and motioned for several of the people to move out of the way. A few boxes and barrels had been left on the dock, and Alaric walked over among the small crowd to browse them. The crowd moved back and in again as he made his way through them, and Alaric relished the feeling of reverence that tinged the air. He reached into the first box and drew out one of the katanas that had been packed away. He drew the blade from its sheath and flicked his gaze around the circle as he let the leather piece drop to the ground.

A teenager stood on the edge of the crowd, his hair long and tied into a braid on top of his head.

"You." Alaric pointed, and the teen jumped at being addressed by his leader. "Come here." The boy shuffled forward, and Alaric regarded him coldly. "Get on your knees. Morgana." She leaped forward, pleased to be asked of something. "Get a bucket of water ready." The crowd sent glances around the raggedy circle, and Alaric moved his gaze to them, taking one hand and sending a crisp "back up" flip of his hand. They obliged in blind unison. The teenage boy who had been singled out was now on his knees alone, likely already praying to God and believing himself to be dead.

Once Morgana returned with a swishing bucket of seawater (which thankfully had taken care of some of her filth), Alaric swished the blade through the air a few times, noting the satisfying sound that it made and the unique glimmers in the metal that gave this katana its power. "All of you- pay attention." He tilted the blade so that each of them could see its length and the metal clearly.

"Master Chen often boasted of his Anacondrai blades that could cut through even the toughest and strongest of material. But I desired a different skill in these."

He tipped the blade at the boy and held it there, and watched as he swallowed and held resolutely still.

"These katanas, with their unique metal that was discovered and forged on our very Island, possess the ability to set what they have cut afire."

A shock went through the group, and one or two of them wondered if they would have to stand here and watch their Heir kill a young and developing loyalist. Alaric himself had no such thoughts as he addressed the boy before him.

"You will be the first of my followers to see what a Magnesium Blade can do. If you can take it, the blade will be yours to wield as a personal guard for me once I return to the Island." Here the murmurs started unashamedly.

The boy's head shot up, then quickly returned to its respectful lowered level. To his credit, Alaric noted no stammer in his voice when he answered.

"Yes- Heir, Sir, Alaric."

"Excellent. Stay still."

The squeamish and weak-minded of the group didn't have but a second to look away as their leader swiped the blade in a wide arc, deftly and perfectly slicing off the boy's braid. The braid flew several feet to the right and burst into flame mid-air. The bucket of water was tossed onto the boy, who had lurched back at the sudden heat on his head from the blade's work. The heat lasted only a moment – the memory and shock would last a lifetime.

The braid lay burning in the parking lot, and most of the group watched as the fire ate it, completely ignoring their Heir, who had walked to the second crate and selected one of the parcels from in it. Alaric was fully aware that no one was watching him, so as he walked back towards the braid, he took his time putting on the gloves that were out of the parcel.

"So, you see, we now have weapons that can set object on fire, and items that will protect us from such fires." Reaching down, he picked up the very last of the braid, which blazed against his seemingly bare hand.

Gasps and whispers exploded, of which he caught several, "Just like the Anacondrai warriors."

"You are correct. These are gloves made of Anacondrai shed skin, which had been stored in Ninjago until very recently. We took the liberty of taking it off the museum's hands." Morgana and some of the others chuckled darkly as he continued. "When it is properly re-enforced, the skin will mold to yours like a sleeve, giving its wearer both the ability to disguise and protection from flames." The flame had burnt out by now, and he took the gloves off his hands, tossing them to the teen who was still on the floor, trying to decide if he should be in awe of his new blade, or terrified of what might happen next.

"These are for you as well."

"Morgana- did you find who I had ordered?" The woman snapped to attention once more, and chuckled. "Oh yes. It was hard to track her down, but we did. Lalo!" She spat to one of the men nearby, who had an awestruck expression on his face after watching Alaric.

"Go get her, and make sure she can't see anything, or I will personally see to it that you sleep with the sea snakes tonight!" Lalo scuttled off, and Alaric watched the group's reaction to Morgana. There only seemed to be one woman who was rattled by her, the rest observed the interaction like it was normal. That was good for Alaric. Maybe keeping Morgana was the right choice after all.

A voice cursing all of the masters of Ninjago history suddenly cut through the night, followed by a terse "Shut Up!" and a thump from what Alaric assumed was a kick. The Lalo guy appeared again, dragging a curled-up and blindfolded form behind him. The Master of Poison was subdued from her outburst of cursing, but Alaric could see that her body shook with anger. He grinned and called out to her while waving for Lalo to step aside. He did so, and Alaric strode over to Tox.

"Boo." He said darkly, and she flipped onto her butt to try and stand up shakily.

He let her, watching as she righted herself, then moved into her space again.

"How are you finding your accommodations? I do hope my followers weren't being too gentle with you, I was told you like to be treated just like any other elemental master." Tox threw a punch, but he moved out of the way. It wasn't difficult to torment people when they were blindfolded.

"I see you can still punch. Congratulations." He shoved her down from the fighting stance and she hit both knees hard on the macadam. "However, I am more interested in if you have retained another skill over all these years." She hissed and spat curses in his direction, and Alaric continued to stalk in a circle around her.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you've messed with the wrong lady, idiot." Tox defiantly challenged. At that, Alaric heard the tell-tale sign of her attacks. The Master of Poison filled herself with air, and Alaric spoke one word to his followers as she did so.

"Drop." The Scallta members did so instantaneously, and Alaric followed suit as the poison exploded out of Tox. It was quickly blown away by the wind from the seas, which was now blowing more strongly that when he arrived.

Gianna could claim plans were a waste of time, but on most occasions, his worked rather well. Staying low to the ground, he made his way to the final box that had been left off of the boat and reached in for one of the bracelets that he knew was there. Finding it, he slipped the heavy chains, which were fashioned into a type of armored bracelet, around one arm.

The Master of Poison was now on raised on both knees, trying to listen for the sounds of Alaric as he walked. The Heir crept up behind her and grabbed her by the back of the throat with the hand that was not wearing the bracelet. He twisted her head so that it was angled back towards him and spoke only a breath away from her face.

"Have some poison for me?" The air-filling hiss came again, and Alaric brought his opposite hand around to touch the chains to Tox's throat. A strangled noise came, and the poison that had been building to come out of her ceased immediately. The Master herself went completely limp, and Alaric grinned in wicked satisfaction. He stood up over her body and motioned to Morgana.

"Tie her up in vengestone and make sure she wakes back up. The bracelets work perfectly, and I need to go meet with my mother." She nodded furiously, and dust flew around her. Alaric stepped away from her cloud, and other members of the group came to tie up the unconscious elemental master while taking the bracelet that he handed to her.

"I will see you in a few days, Highness."

Alaric merely nodded and stalked toward his car, ignoring the eyes of his followers and stopping only by his new guard, who now stood by the first box on the dock, holding and gazing down at his Magnesium blade.

"Well done tonight. You may tell the others that you will be a part of my personal guard. Morgana has already moved your belongings; she knew that you would be taking your test tonight. I will be coming to the Island in three days. Make sure you are ready."