Departed

Chapter 29: Find the Library

Harumi's POV

     Library. Library! LIBRARY!

     What in Ninjago was the tea talking about? I spent who knows how long pacing around the Temple of Light, trying to rack my brain for what the tea wanted me to know. I had visited various libraries throughout my life, but none of them were ever significant in any way. They were just buildings stuffed with books that I needed to visit for schooling purposes.

     I had woken Lloyd up accidentally at some point because he announced (whilst still pretending to be asleep, I might add) that he couldn't rest with all the noise I was making. I ended up laying my head down on my knapsack, wishing for a quiet slumber, as every so often the voice in my head would repeat the plea.

     Find the library.

     Sleep was impossible. Every time I drifted off the voice would return, reminding me that I definitely should be using every second of my spare time searching for a vague place instead of performing basic necessary-to-life functions. In the morning, my eyes felt puffy and I had a headache. Lloyd didn't comment on the irony of the situation when he saw my drowsy state, which I was grateful for. He looked well enough, however, so we agreed to start the flight back to the Bounty.

     I must admit it felt nice to have Lloyd actually acknowledge my presence. He had heard my empty stomach growling and had offered some of his portions, which I grumpily accepted. My head hurt too much to care about my pride, so I swallowed the pieces of jerky and mumbled a thank you.

     Lloyd didn't say much on the flight home, but I could tell he was disconcerted. He kept twitching no matter how loosely I held on, and I could see his jaw continue to clench and unclench. Since he didn't allude to me being the cause of his discomfort, I decided not to say anything.

     As time passed through each wingbeat, I felt myself being lulled by the energy dragon. Even though I had a terrible fear of flying, I could feel myself nodding off as the lack of sleep caught up with me. Lloyd still didn't say anything as I rested my head on his back and slowly fell into slumber. That seemed to be his new normal, the silence. I remember when we first met, he would always try to keep a conversation going. I kind of wished for his chatter now; it would be better than the incessant nagging in my head to find the stupid library.

     "Try to get some sleep tonight." Lloyd told me after we arrived on the midpoint island. He wasn't even looking at me when he said it; he just flopped down on the floor to massage his bad leg.

     I didn't know whether to be embarrassed about falling asleep on the dragon or the fact that he had the nerve to mention I was the one who was sleep deprived this time.

     Find the library.

     By the time we reached the Bounty the next evening, my headache had morphed into an awful migraine. Night was settling in over Ninjago as the sun set, leaving the world feeling unnatural. Maybe it was just me, but everything seemed darker than normal. It was like a signal that the Overlord's power was growing.

     Lloyd waved off Wu and PIXAL's questions the minute we landed so he could go rest. I knew flying across an ocean running purely on your own energy must be exhausting, so when he left the main deck, I told them we didn't find the Oni or Light and headed off to do research.

     The Ninja hadn't left any type of electronic system in my room, I guess so I couldn't contact my villain lackeys. With the persistent nagging in my mind keeping me awake, I spent the night brainstorming where this supposed library was. The tea could be talking about any of Ninjago City's various libraries, though I assumed it probably wanted me to go after a bigger one. There were five major libraries total in the huge city, one of which had been opened after my parents' deaths. The tea wanted to lead me to my parents, so it must want me to find something that had been there during their lives. That narrowed my options down to four.