Back at the temple Cole is bored! He isn't allowed to train, after promising Zane he would rest, but he feels totally fine. Head not bothering him at all. Most of the team is away, out on missions, so he makes his way to the library, to the only people left.
"Cole, how are you feeling?" Misako greets him warmly as he comes in.
"Great! Just great." he says sarcastically.
Lloyd raises an eyebrow. "Is your head hurting?"
"No." says Cole as he plops down onto a chair. "It's just frustrating not knowing what is causing it."
"Yeah, I can only imagine." says Lloyd.
Cole examines the numerous stacks of books. He was hoping there was some sort of organisational method that was just too complex for him to recognise, because it still looked like a mess. "So, how's it going in here? Found anything yet?"
"Nothing significant." says Misako. "But we are making some progress."
"It would help if we knew more about what we were looking for." says Lloyd, scratching at his head, and putting down the book he was flicking through. "Do you have any ideas, about the scar? The glowing? Any of it?"
Cole lifts a hand to his head. "I wish I did." He lets out a frustrated sigh, and then closes his eyes for a moment. "I have been having some weird dreams…"
"Dreams? Or visions?" asks Misako.
"What's the difference?" says Cole, opening his eyes once more.
"Visions often show things that have, or will happen. Or contain other hidden meanings." explains Misako.
"What have your dreams been about?" asks Lloyd.
Cole frowns. "Yang mostly, and the temple… I told you it feels like there is something I need to do here, but I still don't know what. I had a couple where I was trapped here. Like, the open door had an invisible forcefield, and I couldn't get out." Lloyd shoots Misako a worried glance. "And then there was one with a chain, coming right out of my head," Cole gestures with his hands, "I was trying to get away, but it kept pulling me back." Cole looks over at Lloyd and catches sight of his highly concerned face. "What?" he asks nervously. "Is that bad? Do you think it means something?"
Lloyd turns to Misako, unsure of how to respond. Zane asked them not to tell Cole his theory just yet, but the dreams… It was looking probable that Zane was right. There was something tying Cole to the temple.
"We don't know yet." says Misako warmly, having a much better poker face than Lloyd. She rummages in one of the stacks and pulls out a blank notebook, handing it to Cole. "Cole, I want you to go and write down every dream you have had since you changed back, in as much detail as you can remember."
Cole takes the notebook with a groan. "I thought they were just dreams…"
"They could be." says Misako, "and if they are, there is no harm in writing it down."
Cole gets up to leave. "Well at least I now have something to do." he grumbles, as he drags his feet out of the room.
Once he is gone, an uncomfortable silence settles, neither Lloyd or Misako reaching out for another book. "Shit." mutters Lloyd.
"Language." says Misako.
"But, those dreams, he's still cursed…"
"We don't know that for sure, not yet." Misako reaches over and gives Lloyd's shoulder a squeeze, before going back to sorting through the books.
The next day Lloyd is taking a break, having a cup of tea with Cole in the kitchen when Jay and Zane come in through the front doors.
"Hey, you're back!" says Lloyd cheerfully, but his smile fades as he is met with two stoic faces. Jay in particular looks utterly miserable. "Um, where's Echo?"
"He wasn't there." grumbles Jay before power walking out of the room. Zane walks over closer to the table.
"Is he ok?" asks Cole. "Did something happen?"
"It was hard for him, going back there." says Zane, eyes looking distant.
Lloyd frowns, taking notice of Zane's right arm, hanging loosely by his side. "Dude, what happened to your arm?"
"It was an accident." says Zane. "I will be fine. Um, is Nya back yet?"
Lloyd shakes his head. "No, not yet." Why was he asking about Nya and not Kai? Did he need her help with his arm?
"Zane! I got everything we need to fix your arm." says Jay as he comes back into the room carrying an armful of tools.
Zane gives Cole and Lloyd a tentative smile before following Jay into the other room.
"Shit, do you think Jay did that?" asks Cole.
"I hope not." says Lloyd. "I thought he was doing better." Jay had held things together quite well throughout the whole time twin shenanigans.
"Maybe we should call Nya?" asks Cole. Right, that was why Zane was asking for her.
Their phones got patchy reception at best on their new floating home. The bounty still had significant repair work needed on the electronics, but Cole might still be able to use it to call Nya. Not that she would have reception if they were still at the boiling sea. There wasn't a whole lot of room on the island, so they had parked the bounty below to conserve fuel.
Cole wanders around the edge of the island, staring at the ground below. "Huh, I don't remember so many trees…" He couldn't see the bounty, so he kept wandering around. "It must be on the other side."
Soon enough he had done a full lap and was at a loss, not seeing it anywhere. He goes inside to find Zane, comforted to see both of his arms moving normally. "Zane, do you know where we left the bounty?"
"We parked it under the island." states Zane. He was tinkering with some wires. They were still working on getting power fully integrated into the old building.
"Um, well it's not there."
"Curious." says Zane, pausing what he was doing. "It wasn't there when we returned either… I guess the island is drifting faster than we thought."
Cole lifts a hand to his forehead. "Oh, right. It's so weird living on solid ground, but still kinda being on an airship? Maybe I should go find it."
"No. You promised you would rest."
"But I'm fine!" whines Cole.
"Yes, because you have been following my advice."
Cole rolls his eyes.
"Tomorrow we will go to the hospital, get you checked out by a doctor."
Cole frowns. "I thought Lloyd said a doctor wouldn't help?"
"It probably won't, but it will give us more data, allow certain things to be ruled out."
"Still working on your theory?" Cole trusted Zane, but he didn't like being kept in the dark.
"Getting closer."
The next day Zane drives Jay and Cole to Ninjago city for medical appointments. He wanted Cole to get a CT scan and see a neurologist to rule out any physical reasons for his seizures and headaches. This was also the perfect opportunity to do a final test of his theory. See if Cole developed a headache if he was away from the temple but still resting.
He had found Jay a therapist that was located in a building adjacent the hospital, Jay was going to come join them once it was finished.
Jay walks into the hospital waiting room, looking around until he sees Zane. He then walks over and collapses into the chair next to Zane, leaning back as far as he can and crossing his arms.
"How was it?" asks Zane.
Jay sighs. "Apparently my type of issues can't be solved in a single session." grumbles Jay.
Zane gives a small chuckle. "Well, yes, this is true for most people seeking therapy." Jay gives a small huff. "How was the therapist, are they a good match?"
Jay shrugs. "She's fine, I guess." Zane nods, that was about the most positive response he could hope for.
Jay sighs again before sitting up a little. "Where's Cole?"
"They just took him up for the scan."
"And how long will that take?"
"He still needs to see the doctor after."
"Great. So we're going to be here all day."
"That is likely. Even if he gets seen quickly I want us to try and stay in the city until his head starts to hurt."
Jay frowns. "Why?"
"Testing a theory."
Jay jiggles his leg, finger tapping on his crossed arm, brow furrowed as he dives deep into thought. "Why would staying in the city make his head hurt? You think it's location based?"
Zane nods. "If we can stay all day without his head hurting, then I can rule it out."
"Does he know?"
"Not yet, if his head starts to hurt, I will tell him."
Jay continues to jiggle his leg.
Five minutes later Cole comes back. He grumpily slumps into the chair on the other side of Zane. Zane couldn't help but smile at how similar these two were when it came to medical things. "How was it?" asks Zane.
"They put a needle in my arm, to look at my head." grumbles Cole. "My head! How dumb is that?"
"So, do you still have a brain?" teases Jay with a smirk.
"Oh har de har." Cole rolls his eyes. He still wasn't sure exactly why Jay had come along. Maybe Zane just wanted to keep an eye on him after whatever had happened at the lighthouse. "The doctor hasn't seen me yet. They'll call for me once they have had a chance to look at the scans."
"How's your head feeling?" asks Zane.
"Fine." says Cole. Things felt just a bit heavier, but it wasn't really hurting. Zane looks at his scar, it wasn't glowing more than usual. Not yet.
The doctor gives Cole a clean bill of health, the scan not showing anything unusual. Cole wasn't sure if he should be relieved or concerned. Was epilepsy less scary than a mystical mystery? Probably just stress or something… he tries to assure himself. But Zane keeps looking at him, glancing when he doesn't think Cole will notice, and it was starting to put him on edge.
They ended up going to a movie. There was a Cliff Gordon marathon playing at the cinema, some sort of tribute as he had recently passed. Jay basically begged to go see at least one of the movies when he saw the posters. He had been so down lately, so of course Cole had to agree.
Cole wasn't much of a sci-fi person, but he tries to pay attention. It wasn't half bad, Cliff did a pretty good job with the acting, but after a while his head starts to throb.
Cole's heart plummets as he tries to figure out what had caused it this time. He had been resting as instructed for the last two days. Today he had only done a very small amount of walking, he hadn't been fighting, training, or pushing himself physically. Was the salty popcorn in his lap to blame? Surely that wasn't enough junk food to cause this? He didn't even get a soda, still somewhat overwhelmed by sweet things.
He lets out a sigh, all interest in the film fading away. He couldn't ask them to leave right in the middle, Jay had seemed so excited. Cole turns to look at Jay and sees a tear stained face, Jay's chest jerking in time with silent sobs. He looks back at the screen with a frown, this wasn't a sad scene? "Jay, are you ok?" whispers Cole.
Jay shakes his head slightly, eyes still locked on the screen. Cole sighs. "Come on, let's get out of here." He leans over to grab Jay's hand, gently guiding him out of the theatre. Zane notices them get up and follows along too.
Once out in the hallway Jay stops trying so hard to suppress his sobs. Sad noises bursting through his mouth, liquids dripping down his face. Cole finds a bench seat and they both sit down.
"Sorry…" stammers Jay between sobs.
"Hey, don't be sorry, just tell me what's wrong?" says Cole, still holding Jay's hand.
Zane produces some tissues out of nowhere and Cole releases Jay's hand so he can use them to clean up his face.
Jay finishes blowing his nose, and his sobs start to die down. "Um, remember how I said I was adopted?"
Cole frowns, not sure how this was related. "Um, yeah?"
"Well, Cliff Gordon is my birth father."
Zane manages to process the statement faster than Cole. "Oh. That explains how he could afford such a nice boat."
Zane's answer throws off Cole completely. "Wait, what?" he says while turning to Zane.
"We took Jay's boat to the lighthouse. It was part of an inheritance."
Cole blinks a couple times. Inheritance, but that meant Jay's father was… ok. Yeah. Now the crying made sense. Cole scoots over closer to Jay and wraps an arm around his shoulders. "Is that why you wanted to see this movie?"
Jay nods, rubbing at his eyes. "These movies… it's all that's left of him…. It just hit me that I'll never get to actually speak to him, you know? Not that I really wanted to, I dunno. It's stupid."
"It is perfectly natural to think about what you are missing out on, now that he is gone." says Zane. "I had many similar thoughts when my father passed."
Cole is doing his best to listen, but his throbbing head is getting louder, so he leans forward slightly, rubbing at his temple with his other hand.
"Is your head hurting?" asks Zane, as two sets of eyes suddenly lock onto his forehead.
"Yeah, a bit." admits Cole.
"We should head back." says Jay urgently.
"Doc said I'm fine." objects Cole. "There's no rush, I've had worse."
"Jay is correct." says Zane. "We should return to the temple. And it is time that I told you my theory. I believe your head starts to hurt when you are separated from the temple. If you stay away too long, you could even have another seizure."
Cole groans, resting his head on his hands. Thinking through all his past headaches and quick recoveries. Zane's theory made sense, but he didn't like the implications at all. "Yang is going to pay!"
"Ok, sure." agrees Jay, "but can we get you back first?"