(A/N): *grits teeth and ignores the entire world*
*hits "publish chapter*
—
Skylor stepped cautiously behind her group. She needed to make sure she didn't fall behind, but everything she set eyes on caught her attention after so long staying at home base. They were exploring the first floor today, and there was much to look at. Twisted balusters, elegant pillars, arches around the foyer and intricate patterning everywhere, under bloodstains, debris, and bone. This place had been beautiful once … Her awe soured when she remembered what had probably happened to mar that beauty.

Morning had come with a blissfully clear head, only the faintest echoes of pain remaining. Zane had scanned them all to confirm their health and finally, Skylor had been cleared to join their expeditions. Now they wandered the first floor in search of clocks to break and passages they had not found before. She walked now with Lloyd, Jay, and Zane, while Kai, Cole and Karlof had parted ways with them just a bit ago to search the other half of the floor.

"Another passage!" Jay crowed, standing ahead of her. "Let's see where this one leads. You got that, Zane?"

"Affirmative," the nindroid responded, already marking the placement of the passage trigger in his map.

Absently, Skylor followed them into the narrow passage, her thoughts turning to the mysteries she had kept tabs on while stuck with bedrest. There was almost too much to keep track of: why did the clocks display such strange visions? What happened after the elemental master's spy—Hissra?—revealed the mansion's location? How was the Clockmaker involved with all of it?

But above all else, one thing demanded attention that she could no longer ignore.

What was Jay up to?

Well. If what she had learned last night was anything to go by, she might have discovered a clue.

—

Skylor teased out one more tangle in her curls with her fingers, wincing at the dried blood that fell as she did. She tucked an unruly lock behind her ear, and found it was too frizzy to cooperate. She huffed a quiet sigh through her nose. This was to be expected, given she hadn't been able to wash or brush it in days, but it was still annoying.

At length, she tidied her hair into an acceptable condition and tossed her head upside down, pulling the hanging strands into her hands and tying them together. As she came back up and wrapped the band around her ponytail, something about one of the bags tossed against the wall caught her eye.

The bag wasn't one she recognized immediately, but judging from the deep blue color and playful pins scattered across the front, it seemed like Jay's. It was set at a distance from the rest of their things, the zip ever so slightly open and the dim firelight illuminating something inside it. Skylor squinted to make it out better—it appeared to be a book, the cover worn and leathery.

Surreptitiously, she lifted her head up and took stock of the others. Jay and Zane were out of the room, discussing something she was not privy to. Kai, Lloyd, and Cole were having an animated discussion—trading theories about the clock visions, it seemed like. Karlof was listening with interest and chimed in occasionally.

Good. No one was watching her.

Skylor walked up to Jay's bag, attempting to look casual, and banished the twinge of guilt attempting to make itself known. It was shady to look through other people's belongings and she knew it, but considering what she'd picked up on recently … The appearance of the book matched the one that she'd seen Jay carrying around and reading, and she couldn't shake her suspicion that it was important. Carefully, she pulled the zipper further open and picked the tome up. The cover was rough and weathered against her fingers, but the feeling barely registered over the skip of her heart as she read the title.

Spells of the South.

Spells … as in magic spells?

In a mansion supersaturated with cursed magic, while they were being hunted by a monster dripping with it, what was Jay doing with a spellbook?

—

Her concussion had only subsided somewhat the night before, and with the clarity had come a realization she couldn't believe even now: Jay's presence radiated the same magic.

Magic was near-impossible to control for anyone who was not a master sorcerer. Was Jay really attempting to use magic in secret, or did it cling to him unbidden? It seemed nearly beyond belief that the silly, neurotic blue ninja would be partaking in something so dangerous privately, but this discovery made her inclined to believe it was the most likely possibility. Why?

Think, Skylor. What did she know?

The Jay that she'd observed during the Tournament seemed incapable of such a thing. From her observations, he'd been a dynamo jokester, insecure and anxious enough to manipulate, but clever and tough enough to overcome what her father had thrown at him. That man was a far cry from the one in the mansion with them now. What had changed him between the tournament and now?

They were definitely all stressed, nerves pinched thin with the narrowing possibility of escape and their supplies running low. But Jay's behavior in particular stood out—since they'd entered the mansion, he was panicky, temperamental, and obfuscatory. Skylor admittedly didn't know him well, but the other ninja who did seemed to find his behavior strange too. Their words of comfort didn't stick; they couldn't get him to eat; more than once she'd watched them bicker almost to blows and seen the ninja shoot him concerned looks when Jay wasn't looking. Whatever the source of the magic wrapping around him, it was having an effect on him.

And yet for his instability, he seemed more in-control than he was letting on. Jay had become one of the best fighters among them, holding his own with an intuitive skill. He and Cole both hadn't been keeping watch during one of his night shifts when she woke up from a nightmare, and Cole's excuses about the hitch in both their gaits the following day had been paper-thin. When they had read the mystery elemental master's diary, Jay had once referred to her as "she" well before they'd ever seen a vision of what she looked like, an odd slip-up for how little they had known of her then. How had he known that?

Why did Jay not struggle against the spirit as much as they did?

In a mansion overflowing with magic, what was Jay doing with a spellbook?

The questions swirled in her mind as she hurriedly placed the book back and zipped the bag shut. Skylor couldn't be sure if her gut answer was right, but there was one conclusion she could draw with certainty: Jay was involved in the mansion's mystery.

A voice snapped her out of her reverie.

"Ah! It appears the passage has opened into a small library of sorts," Zane exclaimed. "We should certainly investigate."

"They really like their books around here," Lloyd remarked, passing through the entrance. "Do you think they had anything like Starfarer?"

"Heheh, Starfarer," Jay said, scratching at his neck. "That sure would be interesting if they did. Crazy how some stories keep showing up, right?"

Skylor narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

"Uh, why don't you two go ahead?" She said, gesturing for Lloyd and Zane to move on. "I have some notes I really want Jay's help with figuring out, but I don't want to hold you up from exploring. We can break any clocks in there once I'm done!"

"I don't think we should be splitting up," Lloyd said concernedly. "Can't you just come with us?"

"I just think it would be distracting to be surrounded by all of those potential clues to look into before getting my notes straight on this one," she said, willing them to believe her. "Besides, the passage switch is right here. We'll be able to get back to you in no time. You don't mind, right, Jay?"

She flashed her most winning smile at the blue ninja, praying he would play along.

"Huh? Uh, sure!" Jay blinked. "Fine by me, I guess."

"Alright," Lloyd conceded begrudgingly. "Just don't take too long. We just reunited, I don't wanna see anyone else go missing."

"We won't," Skylor promised. Her cheeks ached from the effort of keeping her smile up.

At length, the passage door rumbled shut, the dim light of the room winking out in the dusty gloom.

Jay's expression dropped with it, the confusion in his eyes giving way to a sharp wariness.

"Wha-"

Skylor moved before he had the chance to speak. Jay yelped as she slammed his back against the wall, her hand grabbing the collar of his gi to pull him forward.

"What are you up to?" she hissed.

"Huh? I don't know what you're talking about!" he cried. "How about you let go of me and we can talk about this normally?!"

"Don't play dumb, Walker. I've had too much time to sit and think for that." Still, Skylor scanned Jay's face before unceremoniously releasing him. The man scampered out of arm's reach, rubbing at his collarbone.

In front of him, Skylor started pacing, her nerves thrumming with agitation, making sure to keep herself between Jay and the passage entrance.

"I thought there was something strange going on with you, but I couldn't put my finger on it until today. I wake up one night and you're not there. You're acting weird—even the other ninja seem to think so. But you're good at fighting the spirit. Maybe too good. Plus, you slipped up. Do you think I didn't notice when you called our mysterious elemental master a 'she' before we ever saw her? Almost like you know something we don't …"

As the words tumbled out, as she crept closer, Skylor glared up at Jay. He had gone very tense, eyes wide and fixed on her.

"And one more thing? I grew up around magic. Clouse tried to train me. My own father cast a dark spell on me. I know what magic feels like, and you, Jay, are utterly smothered in it."

She stepped forward. Jay made an alarmed sound and leaned back, his eyes starting to narrow.

"What are you doing with a spellbook?"

Another accusatory step forward, and she was almost nose-to-nose with the master of lightning.

"What's really going on?"

For a moment, the air crackled as they stared each other down. Then Jay broke away, looking down and huffing a sigh through his nose.

"Fine. You got me. How does this keep happening?" The last question was muttered through his teeth.

Skylor blinked.

"Fine?"

She'd figured Jay wasn't nearly as combative as, say, Kai, but for him to immediately acquiesce still took her by surprise.

"Look, Skylor," Jay sighed, backing up for precious breathing room. His expression had given way to something weary and bitter. "I don't wanna fight you. You're right, I'm hiding something. But I swear I have a good reason …"

"So good you can't tell the rest of us?" Skylor questioned, eyebrow quirked. "I don't like to pry, but we're in danger here and the more we know, the better our chances. If you're really involved with this magic somehow, I have to know."

"I knew you'd say that." Jay's eyes were feverishly bright in the cramped, dark space. "I'll give you the gist, but on one condition."

"Anything," Skylor fired back immediately. "What is it?"

Jay lifted his head up to look at her, and a chill ran down her spine.

"Swear to keep it secret. No one else can know."

—

"The passage trigger is this second shelf!" Lloyd called out. "You got that, Zane?"

"I am recording it now," Zane said. "It appears that this room's key was given to me by Cole on our first day here, so we are able to access it even without the passages, if need be."

"Sounds good. Hey, what do you think is taking them so long?" Lloyd wondered.

As if on cue, the still-open passage spit out a discombobulated-looking ninja and a friend.

"Sorry we took so long," Jay said. "How's it looking in here?"

Lloyd blinked, surprised at his swiftness. Evidently he was uninterested in sharing his conversation with Skylor. Maybe he was saving it for later?

"Not much so far," he admitted. "We did find the passage trigger—it's that shelf right there, second from the corner on the side facing you." He pointed towards the inlaid shelves wrapping around the walls of the room, brimming with books, tiny words swimming on their worn spines. A long-dormant fireplace sat in the center of the wall with the passage trigger, wood ash smeared on the sides.

And of course, Lloyd thought, shudder twitching through his shoulder blades, there were the rusted weapons and crushed bone fragments littered all over the floor. Which kind of killed any inviting atmosphere the place might have had.

As Skylor stepped out, Zane pushed the shelf back into place, shutting the passage with a low rumble.

"Lloyd and I did not find much of use for our situation here. The windows are barred, just as the ones in the rest of the mansion. Most of the books are academic in nature as well. I am afraid we do not have much time to spare reading," he sighed ruefully, running his fingers over a dusty spine, "although anything relating to the Shuravansha or magic that can be found may be useful for learning the mansion's history. I shall run a brief scan over the titles to see if any of them meet those criteria." His eyes glowed and a holographic blue light raked over the shelves.

Jay walked over to one of the small desks against the wall. "While you do that, this desk has a clock. You guys ready for this?"

"The one yesterday wasn't so bad," Lloyd responded, thinking back to visions of a bouncy little girl dragging around a mysterious but obliging elemental master. "Did you really see all those awful things?"

"Indeed," Zane affirmed, joining them. "I struggled to believe it was possible, but I saw with my own eyes that these clocks are able to show potential futures we may find ourselves in."

"That's just the working theory, anyway," Jay chimed in grimly.

"How'd the book indexing go?" Lloyd asked the nindroid.

Zane held out a book in his hands. "I found this, which appears to discuss the history of the Shuravansha clan, but I did not find anything pertinent to our situation besides that."

"Yeah, yeah, we don't exactly have time to hold a book club in here," Jay snipped. His hands shook on the edges of the small desk clock, eyebrows knit in a scowl. "Hold your breath, you guys, this is going to suck."

Then he unceremoniously flung the clock onto the floor.

—

[Kai is already dead.

The tatters of his gi camouflage the dark stains of his wounds, and he's propped peacefully against the wall, near a fireplace he would have lit were his element still burning. Cole's head rests on his shoulder, the rest of his body slumped against Kai's. They almost look like they're sleeping, tucked into blankets of shredded gi and blood pools.

Lloyd stands in front of the two, before an injured spirit, a ball of energy jittering wildly between his palms and lighting the walls with furious flashes of green.

There's frantic banging on the door. A voice—Jay—howls.

"Lloyd, what are you doing?! Let me in!"

The green ninja ignores him, growing the energy between his hands and flinging it at the hateful spirit. The thumping gets louder, echoing over the thrum of elemental power and the screeching of the monster that took his family's lives.

("What …" Skylor breathed in horror. The others looked on, transfixed in dread.)

"Lloyd, let me back in or I'll kill you!" Jay threatens. "You'll never beat it alone!"

"I already told you!" he shouts back, voice hoarse as he dodges an attack of dark, seeping dread. "You have to make it out of here. We can't both survive. You said so yourself!"

"You're all I have left, I'm not leaving without you!" Jay wails, his voice pitching hysterically until it cracks into a sob.

"Lloyd! Lloyd, let me in—"

The banging at the door stops for a moment.

Lloyd hops up onto a desk as the spirit lunges for him and knocks a shelf over, stunning the cursed creature momentarily, and takes precious respite under it to catch his breath.

The door catches his attention again with a heftier 'thump'. A beat. Another thump follows it, accompanied by a scream. Jay must be throwing himself at the door, a thought that sends Lloyd's heart into his chest. Why isn't he running?!

Of course Jay wants him alive, but he doesn't get it.

Lloyd owes Kai.

He wouldn't be here if Kai hadn't taken a chance on the twerp in the volcano, and he can't even save Kai's life back, so … the least he can do is stay with him. Right?

Jay's attempts to break in slowly taper into silence as the fight rages on. Lloyd wipes blood and sweat off a cut on his face, wincing at the sting. Sword brandished, he waits and watches as the spirit attacks.

His expression is dark.]

—

The din of the battlefield was swept away with the sepia of the vision, leaving ringing silence in its wake only interrupted by ragged breaths.

Heat crept up Lloyd's neck. The world swam. Jay had primed him for the worst, and he had still been unprepared for the way the fabricated memory had sunk its teeth into his jugular.

Next to him, Zane stammered for words and came up short until he caught quiet sniffling.

"Jay-"

"D-don't look at me," the lightning ninja grumbled, swiping at his face. "Stupid allergies." If the rest of them heard the way his words hitched on barely-swallowed sobs, they were mercifully quiet on the matter.

"I need to sit down," Skylor said abruptly, pulling the chair from the nearest desk and collapsing into it, her breathing quick and shallow. Her fingers nested into the tangled curls of her bangs, weak shadows cast on her face from the wispy light coming through the high windows.

"How did it know," Lloyd rasped, wrenching the others' attention towards him. "How did a random clock with a magic spell on it know how to get into my head like that?"

"Lloyd …" Zane whispered, pained.

"Are we being watched?" he hissed, voice rising. "Is that why that spirit always knows right where to find us? Because I know what I would do, but how does a a stupid clock know that?"

Phantom sensations flickered through his body, of cutting wind and dark skies and a constant taunting that he was too weak, how could they always get in his head—

"Lloyd," Zane repeated, firmer this time.

"It is possible that the clocks are watching us, but the more we break, the less they will be able to do so. Furthermore, we are still in control. As I told Cole, we decide what happens to us." He smiled sadly. "Please place in us the trust your fear wishes to be afforded."

He had started to hyperventilate, Lloyd realized. Chest aching, he willed his breathing to even out.

"You gonna be okay, kiddo?" Jay chimed in, voice wobbling but stronger than before.

Lloyd nodded wordlessly.

"Drink some water now that we aren't rationing it anymore. You'll need it … "

—

The Shuravansha clan of the Southern Woodlands was a tight-knit, fierce group going back to ancient times. But in all those generations of warriors, they'd seen nothing like Vasuki.

At age five, she observed her older cohorts during their training, owl-eyed. Then she scared her parents witless by swinging a rod at her peers in play. The children's instructor swept in to grab the rod, noted her hand-eye coordination, and smiled. This one needed special attention.

At 10, Vasuki had endeared the entire village to her. Every family among them was keenly attentive to the brilliant, plucky little girl with the delicate orange flowers in her black hair. Her sharp, easy smile beamed brighter than the sun. In dance, in hand-to-hand, in her weapons studies, she was prodigious. With each year of instruction and training, she shot higher in her class. Not a martial skill existed which could best her.

At 15, after years of tagging along on missions, she joined a regular patrol group. The trade paths leading to her village saw the most robberies and violence, and she itched for action to properly cut her teeth on. Very quickly Vasuki made a name for herself, swift and graceful and ruthless. Few dacoits or criminals dared cause trouble around the village in the central Woodlands anymore. She carried out every mission tasked to her and then some. She sat in on Shuravansha council meetings and reported the status of the Woodlands. Her eyes fixed firmly on the prize—the chieftess seat on the Shuravansha council. If she kept working hard, fighting hard, charming everyone in the village, someday soon it would be her on that seat, leading her people to victory.

At 19, Vasuki met a gruff old carpenter and his son, hailing from the outskirts of the Woodlands.

She couldn't have known how her life would change when she did.

—