The Lotus Ninjas reached their cloaking fortress high above the city. They entered the darkened living room, trying to sneak into their bedrooms while being unseen by their mom at the same time.
"Okay, girls. You know the drill. Stay quiet and be quiet." Lee whispered.
"You be quiet." Ellie whispered back.
"Ellie, she's literally whispering right now. Shut up." Ella snapped quietly.
"Let's just get to our room and call it a night." Donna murmured.
Suddenly, a lamp snapped on. The Lotus Ninjas got startled with a scream, especially Ellie when she instantly fell to the floor on her back.
Their mother named Saldana stood in the living room as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her stern face confirmed that she had been waiting for her daughters' arrival.
"Girls! Where have you been? You should've been back here hours ago." Saldana said.
The Lotus Ninjas quickly tried to answer at once.
"We...we're sorry, mom." Lee apologized.
"We didn't mean to be out so late..." Donna lied.
"It was this late homework study..." Ella added.
"Extra credit...very important." Ellie fibbed as she quickly stood up from the floor.
The Lotus Ninjas tried to slink off to their bedrooms. But Saldana blocked their path out of nowhere, making her daughters stop and scream.
"Hold on a second." Saldana said with a skeptical face. "You went to school, came right back, and then you left without saying anything. So again. Where. Were. You?"
Ellie, Donna, Ella, and Lee exchanged worried faces, knowing that no excuse is going to make up for their tardiness. Saldana just stared at her daughters with a completely unconvinced look on her face.
Lee finally stepped forward.
"Look, mom, we're really sorry." Lee said. "We went to grab some pizza and Larisa took my bracelet. And when she did, I made the soda machine explode and must've splash soda all over her and her friends, and it was so cool!"
"Lee!" Ellie, Donna, and Ella blurted out at the same time.
Saldana looked horrified.
"Wait, what?!" Saldana exclaimed.
Saldana's voice made her daughters cringe. But Ella, Donna, and Ellie stepped forward as they tried to explain at once, talking about how it was so cool when their oldest sister caused the soda machine incident. Even Lee chimed in with excitement.
"Alright!" Saldana said. She took a deep breath. "I heard enough."
"But still, I'm sorry, mom." Lee said with a frown.
"It's alright, Lee." Saldana said. "I know you didn't do it intentionally. I'm afraid it's time for me to tell you the full truth of your heritage."
"The truth?" Ella repeated.
"About our heritage?" Donna reiterated.
"It's best for you all to take a seat." Saldana said.
Ellie, Donna, Ella, and Lee sat around the dining table.
In a luxury theater, Saldana began producing fireworks from one hand and then produced four elephants above her with a snap of her fingers. The crowd cheered for Saldana's talent with her magic.
Saldana took out an ace of spades playing card and tossed it to enlarge itself underneath the elephants, holding them up in the air above her. The elephants started spraying colorful flower petals at the gasping audience from their trunks.
With a wave of Saldana's glowing hands, the playing card swallowed the elephants through the spade symbol and drifted its way above the audience before exploding itself into rainbow sparkles.
The audience stood up and clapped for Saldana's delightful magic show.
"Years ago, I started pursuing a professional career as a stage magician with my magical gifts which I inherited on my fifteen birthday." Saldana narrated. "But that all changed when I had you wonderful girls fifteen years later."
Saldana emitted a beautiful tone in her voice, releasing several musical notes around her sleeping baby daughters inside their cribs while singing a magical lullaby.
"At the time, you four inherited the magic of the four classical elements: water, fire, earth, and air."
Four-year-old Lotus Ninjas played together with their magic.
"But in order to keep you safe from anyone who seeks your magic for personal gain, I crafted four specialized bracelets to suppress your powers. Since then, we have become a very close family."
One day, the Lotus Ninjas wore metallic bracelets on their wrists, leaving them completely unaware of their magic. They ate pizza together, danced to pop music karaoke, played dress up, and slept together with Saldana on the bed. They enjoyed their lives above the streets together.
Throughout the years, Saldana passed her ninjutsu knowledge she gained on to her daughters. One by one, the Lotus Ninjas practiced for years as they grew bigger and stronger until the four sisters became highly skilled.
The Lotus Ninjas exchanged awestruck expressions at each other.
"That is why I'm so strict about removing your bracelets all the time." Saldana concluded. "But now that you all know the full story, I have made my decision."
Saldana snapped her fingers, disintegrating the metallic bracelets off her daughters' wrists.
"You four will learn how to harness your magic." Saldana said.
The Lotus Ninjas jumped to their feet, shocked about their mother's decision.
"What?!" Donna yelped.
"Are you serious?!" Ellie squealed.
"Yes, I've made up my mind." Saldana said. "I've taught you everything I know. It's time for you four to adjust our magic into the arts of ninjutsu. Now, it's off to bed."
The Lotus Ninjas stood up from their seats. They walked out of the room and into their respective bedrooms.
Ellie sat on her bed, wearing an orange T-shirt and reddish-brown shorts. She couldn't believe that she and her sisters were born with magic that they have inherited from their mother, who covered it up with magic-suppressing bracelets throughout their whole lives.
Unable to fall asleep, Ellie reached for her cell phone and started setting the call on a video chat.
The video chat screen on Ellie's phone showed Lee, Donna, and Ella sitting on their beds. Lee was reading a fashion magazine in a blue tank top and navy-blue shorts. Donna was listening to her Linkin Park music on her wireless headphones in a purple tank top and dark violet shorts. Ella was playing a video game on her Nintendo Switch in a red T-shirt and maroon-colored shorts. They all stopped what they're doing when they looked at their phone screens.
"Hey, girls, can you believe we had magic powers this whole time and we didn't know about it until now?" Ellie asked.
"I mean, if I'm being honest, mom is just being mom. You know?" Donna replied. "I get it that she wants us to have a normal life, but still, we deserve to know the truth. We are teenagers after all."
"Yeah." Ella agreed. "And we're in high school, for Pete's sake. If we can handle homework and after school stuff, then we can handle controlling our magic."
"That's some confidence, Ella." Lee said in a sarcastic tone. "And speaking of high school, if prom wasn't canceled, who would you go with?"
"I actually haven't thought about prom." Ellie replied.
"Me too." Ella answered.
"Me three." Donna responded. "What about you, Lee? You're the head cheerleader and class president."
"Well, only the jocks, such as Blake himself, have asked me to prom, but I'm not interested in any of them." Lee said. "I just want a guy who likes me for me and not just my school status."
"I feel ya. That Blake is such a jerk, especially after he broke up with Larisa just to move on with you." Ellie said.
"If I ever see him and his crazy ex's faces again, they're not gonna like what I'm gonna do to them." Ella said, cracking her knuckles with a wicked smile.
Ella noticed that her sisters were giving serious looks on their faces.
"You know, old-fashioned punching." Ella said.
"Well, just for now, let's get some sleep." Lee said. "We'll figure out about our magic dilemma at school."
With that, the Lotus Ninjas ended the video chat and drifted off to sleep.
Enjoy and review.