The Chains

It was already morning at the Jade Palace. Leo was in his room meditating. There were voices chuckling nearby. But he ignored them and continued meditating. He's been meditating for the past hour after having the same nightmare. The diamond sword laid behind him on a rack.

He finished meditating and walks over to the shelf and takes it off. The scroll had a list of several powers and strength that had happen in the past few months that's tied to Kaira and himself. Kaira might be much stronger if it wasn't for the seal inside him.

Leo was a little angry at himself last night. He realizes he could talk to her whenever he's mediating, and it was a easy thing to miss. That was one problem solved and there were many more to solve. After he placed the scroll on the shelf, Leo opens the door to see Viper coming slithering out of her room.

"Good morning, Leo." Viper greets with a smile.

"Good morning, Viper." Leo said to her as she slithers besides him.

"Did you hear that the Stone of Lu Mong has been returned?" Viper asked him.

"Yes, I have heard it was returned to the inhabitants." Leo replied. "Which means there will be no need for war."

Viper nodded hear head as the two went to the kitchen. The two warriors had some rice porridge. And after breakfast as usual, Leo heads over to the Peach Tree Hill. He could see the villagers below doing their everyday routine. The village is nice and peaceful, but there's always danger around the corner. Everyone in the village depends on him and the masters of the Jade Palace to protect them from danger. But even danger itself can be much stronger than them, even in this world.

Leo recalls the battles he and his friends had against strong enemies before arriving here. He keeps his anger under control at times. But when the exiled prince revealed what he did to Leo's parents, his anger was released. The chains were broken free of whatever was sleeping inside of him. And it happened again where the people saw five years ago.

Leo left Tao Palace to control his anger after he killed her. After saving the world from Crow's father and convincing her to stay with them, Leo was about to leave after the victory party because he couldn't stay with them.

Crow and Sheila approached Leo in his room after the party when Harry saw him from the doorway packing up in his room and tells the two girls that Leo is leaving. Leo tells them that he only stayed with them because their world was going to be destroyed. And since they saved the world, he must be moving on and already quit kung fu after talking to John.

Sheila and Crow convince him to not quit on his kung fu, even staying with them and will help train Leo. The young teenager thought about it and agreed which cause Sheila to be happy and Crow gives him a small smile. Sheila has told the team they should have a few days off to relax, which was a bit of disappointment for Leo. Then Leo's training began.

He would start meditating with Crow in the early morning. After that, they'll spar outside or inside. The team would receive some new missions whenever from a team member of Task Force 493 or the Grand Mistress. And at the end of the day, Leo and Crow meditates together at nighttime. Crow grew very close to Leo over the five years.

For the past few nights, Leo began having nightmares one week later. Nightmares of the incident. He couldn't let anyone know about it. That kind of hatred and anger should never be released like that. There were people who thanked Leo for saving them while others fear Leo of what he did. The nightmares have tortured him every night. He doesn't sleep well.

Leo was a little careless after visiting the Tao Palace seven months later. Panther and Ava saw he was tossing and turning that night. The teenager refused their help. He knew that they'll begin to worry about him so when Ava asked him if he slept well the next day, Leo started lying for every time someone asks him that question. And every time he sleeps through the night, Leo embraces those hellish nightmares.

The chains inside him were restored and trapped whatever awoken inside of him to a cage under lock and key. But he believes that the chains can hold it once again. And he'll have to train much harder so he won't lose control. In those past five years, Leo continued to train hard and the chains did not break again.

Until Leo and Sying fought one more time in the harbor. And he killed the wolf assassin as well. After the wolf assassin was killed, Leo knew the chains were broken after five years and remade the chains even stronger by doing a lot of hard training. His kung fu has improved much better when he arrived. And he expected the results were unexpecting.

No matter how hard he trains or meditate, the nightmares continue to get worse. Leo doesn't need to tell his girlfriend about it. It's better for him. If the Stone Of Lu Mong has not been returned, there would be a war. And if a Lu Mong enemy goes too far, then the chains and the cage would be destroyed. The young man would stop to hesitate or show mercy to the enemy. Thankfully, the stone has been returned.

Leo still thinks every day if his parents are still alive or his family. The young man never consider himself as a family member at Tao Palace, Sheila and her team and the warriors of the Jade Palace. He only wants his girlfriend and friends to be happy and having a nice life. For him though, he would want to suffer alone in secret. Because if he learns what happened to his family or parents, he wasn't sure if the chains would hold him or be destroyed completely with the cage. He'll find out one day in the future.

This chapter was pretty good and short. If you all are enjoying the story so far, leave a review. Don't forget to Follow and Favorite as well.