Nya pressed herself against Kai's back, not letting go of his, at this point, almost ragged shirt, glaring at the snake that was forcefully dragging them to who knows where.
Kai complained, because of course he did, and he tried to set himself free, all to no avail.
The snake hand gripped tighter and it felt as if a snaked was coiling around his arm.
Nya Just wished this wouldn't backfired even more of what already has.
But she knew they were being taken to where Krux was.
Who else they would've been taken to?
At this point Kai had just stop squirming and he seemed to be in pain, crunched face and all, Nya's grip tightened.
They're led to a place they recognize, is the dinner room.
Honestly it seemed way tidier than before.
There's floor now, it's just not dirt anymore which is a good in her book, there's more light too and the place just looks... cleaner.
She's taken out of her thoughts as a harsh voice comes crashing through them.
"What"
Kai gasps and she can feel him stiffen. Nya hides.
"The kidssss were wandering around"
And soon enough Krux is towering over them, Nya looks up with purple, scared eyes.
"Well" He starts, scratching his neck "I guess it was a matter of time" He murmurs before taking Kai's arm from the snakes grip.
"Leave them to me and go back to work"
The snake doesn't say anything else, just bows and leaves leaving the two kids alone with Krux.
Kai instinctively put himself between Krux and Nya, his Aquamarine eyes shining with defiance.
Krux scoffed before letting out a laugh that startled both siblings.
With a cough he went back to sit at the dinner table, picking up his fork and eating his dinner.
The siblings just... Stood there.
It wasn't like they could just go back to the room right? Krux seemed relaxed but Kai was almost sure he would pounce at them the moment they turned their back to him.
After a brief moment and a shared glance both kids made their way to the table, making sure to never break contact with Krux.
Finally Kai stood in front of the man, at the other side of the table.
Krux cleaned his mouth with a Napkin, before taking a glass of water and drinking it.
Both kids kept on staring.
The time elemental cleared his throat, then motioned for them to sit.
They did.
"You two look like clever kids" He rested an arm on the table, Kai glared.
"Let's talk"
Maya slumped against the wall as she let out a heavy sigh.
She's tired. So so tired.
A heavy hand came to rest on her shoulder before a taller figure sat at her side.
She looked up to find no other than her husband.
He looks so tired too.
His long has it been?
They had lost count of time.
It could be a few weeks, or even months.
It didn't matter anyways, their children had been taken from them.
Maya blamed herself and she could see it in Ray's eyes too.
How could've let this happen?
Forget the bit about being kidnapped, they would've come willingly as long as Krux had left their kids alone.
The thing is, no matter how much they tried to convince him to just take them to the swamp and leave the kids Ignacia, but it was all useless.
Krux had insisted on taking the kids too, they couldn't even fight back as they saw the orange snakes creeping too closely to the playing children, it was too risky to try and make a move.
Then the worst happened.
The kids fell ill.
They tried, they really did but they only got worse.
There was literally no other option.
Trying to get out of the swamps would've been fruitless as the snakes patrolled the perimeter constantly and they didn't even know the layout of the place.
They might as well get lost.
With two sick children in such environment would be a death sentence.
They couldn't fight them either.
So what other option did they have? Try over and over again until they withered away?
Or just... Trust and hope Krux would do as he said and treat them?
No option was ideal but if there was just the smallest chance Krux would keep his word in this then...
Maya was tired of crying., she didn't have any more tears to shed.
Ray hasn't cried a single time, not in front of her, but if the red eyes that would sometime plague his own was anything to go by then she was sure he had run of tears at this point too.
She just... She couldn't help the guilt eating her inside.
First for allowing the kidnapping, had it really been that hopeless? Did they really had to follow through?
What if they had fought back?
Would they be back at Ignacia with their kids?
Did they really have no other option than to give Kai and Nya to Krux for treatment? Had there been other way?
Where they even alive?
Was everything they had done for nothing?
The pair didn't know, Krux had only come by a few times to check on the work and update vaguely on the kids, but it's all has been only words, they haven't seen them yet.
Could they really trust his word after all?
They couldn't, she knew that, they knew that, but they were at a dead end here.
She just hoped they were alive.
Even is she couldn't see them again.
Krux grumbled as he put both kids to bed.
And by putting them to bed he meant he brought them back to the room, took their half-eaten dinner and closed the door, making sure to lock it properly this time.
Annoyed the passed a hand through his black hair, grumbling when he caught sight of a particular white hair.
He quickly took at and kept staring at it.
With a click of his tong the elemental wrapped it around a finger before pulling it out and throwing it onto the ground.
Well, this was less than ideal, especially considering he still didn't know where his brother was.
He had been trying to figure out where Acronix had landed of course, he had never stopped, that's his brother after all.
But most calculations hadn't been useful at all, sure he was a master of Time but he wasn't even a complete half, he could only use half of the time itself, his other half being Acronix.
Acronix his younger twin.
Twin that was currently in a time stream he wasn't even sure when he would exit from.
Stupid, this was so so stupid.
Damn Wu, Damn Garmadon, Damn Ray and Maya for boycotting their plans.
None of this would've happened if they didn't, didnt-
Krux kicked the door with force, ignoring the scared yelps of the kids inside the room before stomping out towards the dinner room section.
He had to control himself.
Scaring they kids shitless could only go so far, no that wouldn't just work on the long run, especially not as long as they were together.
Or had their parents still present.
He still had to figure out how to approach this.
He could separate them, that was probably the best option especially considering how young they were.
The less string attached they had the better for him.
But he also didn't want them to complete turn on each other, having sibling rivalry would just make his work more difficult.
He needed a third option.
Brinhing back to the parents was completely out of question too and leaving them abandoned was also a no.
The world couldn't know about the existence of this family, of these kids, the moment someone realised something might be going wrong would meant his plans would be in danger.
They had to stay here.
He would have to come up with a proper plan soon.
He sighed heavily as he pretty much slumped on the sit of the dinner room.
One was three and the other five.
They were old enough to start training with the snakes weren't they? The sooner they learnt how this worked the better.
He might also be able to use their parents as a coaxing method, at least until he could turn them against them fully.
He clicked his tongue, and looked at the ceiling thinking.
He couldn't stay at the swamp for that much time, he had to shove the kids at the Vermillion sooner or later, if Dr. Saunders disappeared then more problems would arise.
No one would miss the blacksmith family considering he had made sure everything appears they had just moved out with a rush.
Whatever people thought about it wouldn't stand in their minds for long.
But Dr. Saunders who had been working at the museum for some years now?
Now that would be a problem.
He couldn't afford it.
But first he would need a word with the snakes, he didn't want them to hurt the kids, at least not too badly, Ray and Maya had been behaving so far but he knew fear could only keep them in for so long.
They would definitely give their lives if they saw the minimum chance or their kids being able to scape.
He needed to keep them in line and he needed the kids to want to stay at his side, to want to be with the snake.
He needed a drink.
But first, he had to have a small reunion with the Vermillion Generals.