Unintentional

Chapter 14: Dangerous Realizations

"Dareth. Tell me the truth. You never knew?" Dareth shook his head and Wu sighed, his bo staff tapping against the floor as he paced around.

"You're telling me that you didn't know you were an elemental master?" Skylor asked in disbelief. 

"Skylor, your father used your elemental powers to his advantage your whole life," Pixal reminded her. "You learned you were an elemental master before most of the ninja did."

"When did the ninja find out?" Skylor asked, a dreamy expression already on her face. 

"A few years ago, not long before I met them," Pixal answered, her mind wandering back to the first time she saw Zane. The two girls fell silent, fantasizing about things that Wu would rather not think about it. 

"Do you know your element?" Wu asked Dareth.

"I think it's earth, but I'm not sure," Dareth admitted.

"But how is that possible? Cole is the master of the earth. Unless..." Wu's eyes went wide with fear. "No. You can't- no. It can't be!"

"What?" Pixal and Skylor asked in unison. Their faces went red with embarrassment as they realized what they'd been thinking about .

"Dareth has inherited the abilities of the goddess of the earth," Wu said. Something in his voice made Pixal worried. She studied Wu's face carefully and detected traces of embarrassment. Wu was hiding something about this goddess and he didn't want to share it. Skylor also picked up on this, but she asked Wu about it anyway. 

"So," Skylor began, clearing her throat. "Did you meet the goddess of the earth?" Wu blushed, and Dareth turned away awkwardly, more uncomfortable than he was confused. 

"Yes," Wu admitted. "A very long time ago." He stopped talking and eyed Skylor suspiciously. "What are you getting at?"

"Nothing," the master of amber said innocently. "Just that when Kai gets that face, I can tell what he's thinking about." Wu turned even more red than he already was. Pixal gave Skylor a disappointed look and she shrugged. 

"Anyway," Pixal said, changing the subject. "Dareth. The woman you described to us is most likely trying to use your powers to her advantage. Did she make you share any secrets with her?"

"No," Dareth replied. "I just did what she told me to do. Knocking over buckets and stuff like that. She's kind of pretty. I would definitely say that she has goddess blood. Which means..."

"You're related!" Skylor cried. "How old was she?"

"Younger than me," Dareth said. "Early twenties or so." 

"Probably a cousin then," Pixal observed. 

"And you took orders from her?" Wu questioned. "Even though you're older than her?"

"Well, she was dangerous. She said there'd been consequences if I didn't do what she asked."

"Everyone says that," Skylor said, rolling her eyes. "You should've made a run for it."

"I was at the very top of a tree," Dareth reminded her. "There was no other way down beside the stairs, and boy, were they tiny. I almost tripped when Gayle and that other guy came to get me. What was his name?"

"Vinny," Wu replied. Garmadon once mentioned that he'd talked to Gayle Gossip's cameraman. "He's a good guy," Garmadon had said. 

"Yeah, that's right! Well, they came in and took me down the stairs at night, when she was sleeping."

"Why didn't you just go down by yourself then?" Pixal asked. 

"I, uhh, didn't think about, ummm, that," Dareth confessed. Skylor and Pixal shook their heads in amusement while Wu stared thoughtfully out the window. 

"Do you know her name?" he asked.

"It starts with a 'g'," Dareth said, trying to recall what the handsome-looking servant had called his master. "I know that her number two is called Badar."

"Badar?" Wu repeated, astonished. "But that was Gaia's assistant!"

"Gaia! That's her name." Dareth smiled, proud of himself for remembering (even though Wu had said it first). Wu's mouth dropped open and fell over. 

"She's the goddess!" Pixal cried, piecing everything together faster than Skylor could dive to catch Wu. "She's immortal, which is why she's still alive. But why does Gaia need you? She should have control over all the elements." Pixal turned to Dareth as though she expected him to know the answer.

"I don't know."

"I do," Wu whispered hoarsely. Everyone turned to the old man leaning against Skylor. The master of amber sat Wu down on a chair and he took a sip of his something-but-nobody-knew-what-it-was-for tea. 

"It's because she doesn't have her powers anymore. Being the goddess of the earth, she used to have control over all the 'natural' elements. Earth, water, wind, fire, lightning, ice, nature, light, all of them. My father wanted to distribute them among people he called 'elemental masters'. He doubted that a person with that much power would be able to use it for good forever. But Gaia begged me to change his mind. She was so desperate that she told me I could be her Yin if I let her stay in power. And, just like with Aspheera, I fell for it. My desire and her beauty created the worst war Ninjago has ever seen."

"I've never heard about it," Pixal said. 

"Me neither," Skylor chimed in.

"That's because Gaia recruited the moon god, Badar. With the power of the full moon, Badar turned back the clock, allowing his master to make a different decision. This time around, Gaia didn't ask me to do anything, though I did ask her to be my Yang. She refused, and we parted ways."

"She didn't ask you the second time because she didn't think you were capable," Skylor said, her thoughts flowing out of her mouth before she could stop herself. "But at least she offered to be your Yang." Pixal glared at Skylor, and she clapped her hands over her mouth.

"I'm sorry," she apologized as Wu's closed his eyes. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes, but he held them back. 

"No, you're right. We wanted more from each other than we could give, and we both ended up with nothing. But now she's trying to make a comeback. With Dareth." The group turned to the brown ninja. "Dareth, you must be careful. She will come for you. You are the god of the earth."

*A/N Sorry for not updating for so long!*