Wrath of the Elementals

Recovery Day 2

*Kai's Perspective*

I stare at my hair in the mirror. Not bad. Could be better. I turn my hair to look at the side. Ew. Definitely could be better. I take my hair gel from the desk and face the mirror again.

"Hey Kai?" Skylor asks from her bed.

"Yeah?"

"Yesterday, did you talk to Nya at all?" She questions. I frown as I recall what we did yesterday.

"Um. No. Not really. Why?"

I watch Skylor cross her her arms. "Yesterday she came up to me and told me how she didn't feel safe in her room. Looked like she didn't get any sleep. I was just worried about her. She could probably use her big brother."

"Yeah I'll talk to her in a few minutes," I answer. I'm sure Nya would be fine, she always is. She just needs time. And maybe she needs to get something off her chest. That always helps her. But I can't go out there looking like this.

Skylor doesn't speak for a while. She stares straight ahead, lost in thought.

I step back from the mirror and admire my work. Now I'll go find Nya.

On the way out I kiss Skylor's cheek and tell her I'll be back. Nya's door is the only one open which is strange but I take the short walk down there. "Sis?" I ask, peeking around the corner. She's not there. She probably left to have an early breakfast. I begin my search in the rest of the monastery but she's not there.

Flashbacks of the night she went missing flash through my mind. "Nya!?" I yell.

"Kai? What's wrong?"

I spin around to face Misako. "Have you seen Nya?" She shakes her head. I leave her behind and run to the corridor of bedrooms.

My heart beat accelerates as I open my friends bedroom doors.

Not Cole's. Not mine. Not Skylor's. Lloyd's a no. Zane? Nope. I swing open Jay's door and sigh with relief.

She's sitting on his floor reading a book. Jay's sprawled out on his bed asleep. "Nya? What? What are you doing in here?"

She raises a brow at me. "Reading."

"Yes, I can see that. But why here?" I glance at Jay who hasn't moved.

Nya places a bookmark on her page before flipping it closed and stands. "I just didn't feel safe anymore. Not after what happened. I was going to go to Skylor's room but you were in there. So I came here. And before you go into overprotective brother mode, I slept on the floor. He doesn't even know I'm in here."

I glance around the room. At least she felt safe and got some sleep, I tell myself. "But you're okay right?"

"I'm fine, Kai. Now let's go before we wake him up." She pushes on my back to urge me out of the room. "So, do you think Wu will actually teach us Spinjitzu today?" She asks, as she closes the door.

"Probably not," I say, taking one last glance at Jay's door. "The time he doesn't spend in libraries he spends speaking to us in riddles." I swing my body over the back of the couch and land on my back. Nya sits on the coffee table.

"What do you think he means by we already know how?"

I close my eyes. The last three months play through my mind. Not once did we turn into a tornado or be told how. "Maybe he gave us a scroll to read that we ignored."

"No, Skylor, Zane, Lloyd, and I read through them. Nothing about how to do it."

I groan. Love Wu, he's a great guy. Just sometimes I wanna drop kick him back to Ninjago City.

"Morning," Lloyd says as he enters the room. I wave as he plops down on the loveseat. "Was it you who came barging into my room like two minutes ago?"

I pull my lips into a thin line. "Yeeeeah, sorry about that. I couldn't find Nya and had a mini panic attack."

Lloyd turns his attention to Nya. "Where were you?"

"Jay's room," she says.

"Ooooooh-"

"Stop."

"Sorry."

I try to stifle my laugh as Nya glares at Lloyd. She stands up as Cole enters the room, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm gonna make myself some toast. You boys want anything?" Nya asks.

"Sure," I say.

"I could eat," Cole tells her.

"Yes please," Lloyd responds.

"Great, go make it yourself."

*Seliel's Perspective*

My breaths come out ragged despite the hours I've spent alone. I lay flat on the ground, the side of my face pressed to the cool stone. I've had no energy to move. It's like the came, drew the life force from me, then left.

I shouldn't have helped Cole. I never should have gone to see him. Not in prison, not at the monastery. Not ever. This place was my home. These people were my family. Now, I'm alone. Just like I was before I found Harumi.

Why did you do it? I ask myself. Pixal would say it's human nature to help someone you care about. Harumi would make a joke about me being in love. Maybe they were right. Or maybe I was just flat out stupid.

I push all thoughts to the back of my head. Going over the same questions repeatedly would do nothing to help me.

I open my eyes for the first time in a while. I blink several times to get used to the dull lighting. Lifting my head takes more energy than I have, but I try. My chin scrapes across the rough floor as I move to see the metal bars.

The door is open. The door is open and I can barely move. It sits there, taunting me. I'm not even chained to the wall anymore. I could leave. But I can't. Every limb weighs fifty pounds. Every movement sends searing pain through the rest of my body. Every thought makes my head pound.

There's no way out.

My head hits the ground again. They did this on purpose. They did this to get inside my head. To prove that they have all the power and I'm just their prisoner. I'm never leaving. This is my fate. After years of training and working and living and becoming friends with these people. I'll die at the hands of them.

"Seliel!"

My heart pounds in my head. With each beat sends a new pulse of pain across my head.

"Seliel."

Hands grasp at me, pulling me upright. Blood rushes to my head, blurring my vison.

"Seliel, work with us here."

They're dragging me. And not very gracefully. I can't keep my eyes open. The only thing I can focus on is pain. It's everywhere. And it's not going away.

"Just a little bit longer, Seliel. Hold on. We got you?" Who was we? By the time their voice reached me it's muffled, and unfamiliar. I can't place anything. Were these strangers or am I really this out of it.

I don't even have the energy to groan as they start ascending a stairwell. My feet hit each step with thump.

It's too much.

"Hold on. Hold on," they whisper.

I want to fade into unconsciousness. There's no pain there.

My wish is not granted. Not until sunlight reaches my skin. Not until I'm pulled onto the back of a motorcycle. Not until my hands are tied together around the person in front of me.

Not until I wish I was dead.