Ninjago NG Book 2: Dark Mysteries

5: Two Left Feet

Brook and Karl were ready to go, wondering what was taking Seth so long. Knowing that Seliel had insisted on helping him get ready, it would be a bit before the earth wielder appeared. They sat on their beds; Brook scrolling through things on his phone while Karl tided his bed up and began to doodle. The matter wielder looked up, seeing Brook wore what looked like a corsage in his hand while the other scrolled on his phone.

"Hey, Brook?" Karl tentatively questioned from where he was doodling. Brook looked up, placing his phone in his pocket. He cocked his head, letting Karl know he was listening. "U-uh..." Karl started, "What do you think of Adekave doing all these things to try and break us?"

Brook rolled his eyes. "We're ninja Karl. Even if Adekave could capture us, it would be hard to find something that would emotionally break all of us," Brook sat in silence before adding shortly after, "Why do you ask?"

Karl shrugged and went back to doodling. "I just have a feeling he is going to strike soon and he'll succeed to find that certain thing that would tear us down..."

"You're just being paranoid. Lighten up! It isn't every year you get to go to Cyrus Borg's party at Borg Industries!"

"Yeah...I guess you're right. Life's too short to worry about things like that. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"What are you drawing?" Brook moved from his bed and watched over Karl's shoulder, seeing what looked like the five of them standing in a picture that reminded him of a picture his father and mother had in their house of them and the others from years prior. "Wow, you are quite the artist Karl!"

A light blush appeared on the matter wielder's face. "T-Thanks. I just...I guess I just doodle to take my mind off..." the master of light and dark matter trailed off, sighing. He finished in a low mutter, "...Them never coming back to pick up their son."

Brook raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were an orphan...do you want to talk about it?"

Karl sucked in a shaky breath. "I need to get it off my chest," He saw Brook nod, and began his tale. "My parents dropped me off at my grandparents' house when I was six. They thought it would be safer for me there then to be in the crossfire of the enemy they and others were fighting..."

Brook didn't need any more to assume he was in the same situation as Homura was. He placed a hand on Karl's shoulder. Nothing was said as silence filled the room. Karl fidgeted with his tie before taking a deep breath. Brook's leg began to bounce up and down until he heard Karl beginning to talk again.

"I don't understand why...if nobody was presumed dead, why didn't they come back to pick me up? Were they not proud of me...?" Karl asked, keeping his head down. Brook had started to rub Karl's shoulder.

"No, they'd be proud of you Karl. I can assure you of that. Just breathe," Brook whispered, continuing to rub the matter wielder's shoulder. Silence hung around them for a few minutes until the door opened, revealing Seth. His charcoal curls had been combed until they were smooth and fluffy, shining in the low light of the bedroom. His suit was fit perfectly to his broad structure, a white dress shirt underneath with a red tie. His shoes shined, the other two boys being able to see their reflections.

"Wow, you cleaned up nicely," Karl commented, a smile forming on his pale face. A light dusting of blush covered Seth's face as he put a hand on the back of his neck. On his wrist was a corsage that had crimson roses and some orange flowers. "Let me guess, your mom put a lot of products in your hair to make it like that?"

"Surprisingly, no. She just kept combing and running her hand through it until it fluffed out," Seth admitted, starting to fidget with a curl. It was really soft now that he had actually combed them. He looked down at the corsage that he currently had on his wrist. "Should we go see if the girls are ready?"