Into the Depths... AU Ninjago FanFiction

Chapter 12

Having come down here to save my friends, the last thing I expected was for Cole to try and squeeze the life out of me. "You have to trust me when I say I'm gonna get you out of here." I choked out as Cole loosened his hold on me slightly. Not loose enough for me to pull free, but enough so I could breathe. . . Sort of. 

"Why should we trust you?" Cole demanded. "For all we know, you could be the queen in disguise!" I reached behind me and Cole tightened his grip. "What is that?" He demanded as I pulled out the keys.

"The way to freedom, BoulderBrain." I retorted as I handed them through the bars. "Zane should be able to see though my disguise if I was someone else." I reminded them as Cole hesitantly released me. Gasping for air, Lloyd unlocked the cell door and pushed it open. Once I was able to breathe comfortably again, I swam inside and shifted into human form. After massaging my aching neck, I pulled the necklace out and showed the others. 

"What do you think Zane?" Jay asked encouraged. Zane's eyes darted up and down as he scanned me before giving Jay an answer. I was silently hoping that Zane could tell that I was me because, if not, I have a feeling that Cole would do a lot worse than try and choke me.

"This is our friend." Zane informed them as I stepped forward.

"It's good to see you again, Kai." Lloyd exclaimed, pulling me into a tight hug. I jolted back a little from the shock of a full on hug from Lloyd. I looked at Lloyd in surprise. Usually he's chill about these sort of thing. Why the sudden urge to cling to me like my life depends on it? I wondered.

"It's good to see you guys too." I said as I hugged him back. After being separated from them, I forgot how nice it was to be around my best friends and secret crush.

"How'd you find us?" Cole asked me.

I let go of Lloyd and turned to look at everyone. "After my mother wouldn't let me leave, she tried to have me thrown down here. I escaped and started pretending to be one of her guards." I informed them turning to Cole. "If you're wondering why the grip felt uneven. I was the one holding your right arm."

"That would explain that." Cole said looking very apologetic from hurting me.

"Wait a second. . . Are you. . . mermaid royalty?" Lloyd asked as Jay stifled a laugh.

"I guess you could say that." I shrugged in response.

"Should we bow or something?" Jay mocked with a false bow.

"Knock it off, Jay. It's not going to my head anytime soon." I shot back as he gave me a sly grin. I sighed. "Now get your gear and follow me." I said as I shifted back into mer-form as I stepped through the barrier, waiting for the others to follow. Once they were ready, we swam deeper into the prison until we were stopped by a massive wall covered in various depictions of shells and mer-folk.

"Mff - murrf - mff!" Jay ranted through the oxygen mask, throwing his hands in the air dramatically as I placed my hands on the wall. "Kai, what are you doing?" Zane asked as Jay rolled his eyes. Everyone looked at me and what I was doing, like I'd gone psycho.

"These passageways can only be accessed by the royal family." I told him as I tapped the image of a conch shell. Sure enough, the wall opened up a pitch black hallway. We swam for about a mile in the dark, before it spat us outside the palace.

"Our way out is over there." Zane said pointing in front of us.

"I need to know if you guys wouldn't mind someone joining us?" I asked thinking about Nya. Everyone shook their heads as to say they didn't mind. "Great. I'll be back in a second." I said swimming around the palace and knocked on Nya's window.